


Metas are Missing, What Do You Want Me To Do About It?

by The_DoctorSimba



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety Attacks, Bad Decisions, Barry Allen Makes Bad Decisions, Canon-Typical Violence, Divide between Metas and Humans, Dom Killer Frost, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Reluctant Allies to Friends to Found Family to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone is a bit OOC, F/F, F/M, I'm Sorry, If anything should be tagged let me know, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Leonard's POV, Lewis Snart's A+ Parenting, Lisa's POV, M/M, Metas are known, Mick's POV, Multi, OOC, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Prejudice, Segregated Metas, Slow Burn, Sub Mick Rory, Tags will be updated, Why have a Love Triangle when you can have a Three Way, shifting pov, that's why i wrote this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-08-28 20:43:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 53,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16730283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_DoctorSimba/pseuds/The_DoctorSimba
Summary: Leonard Snart just wants to get through his last few semesters of college without incident. But that all goes to hell when Central City University's golden trio save his sister from a group of guys at a bar. Now he owes the Flash two favors because he's sure as hell not going to let Lisa owe them. Which wouldn't be a problem if Metas hadn't started going missing. Now Len has to help find them because he accidentally adopted a group of Rogues and can't leave them out to dry. And Barry will not leave him alone anymore, even though Len has repeatedly told him to back off. Lisa and Hartley are getting closer to Cisco, surprising only Cisco himself. And Killer Frost and Mick are really heating up. How will Ronnie and Caitlin feel about that? This would all go a lot smoother if everyone would just mind their own business but it seems they all want to mind his instead.





	1. Two Favors

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Hadn't planned on posting this yet but I've actually got an outline going so updates should be faster and I got excited and wanted you to have something. This is basically a college au no one wanted or asked for. There is segregated Meta college fic with Metas going missing and everyone getting in relationships. It's going to be messy, it's going to hurt, but it will be worth it. Also this fic literally started because "Why have a love triangle when you can have a three way" and was only supposed to be a one shot... It was not. But anyways, Enjoy!

When Lisa Snart had planned on cheering Shawna up by going to the bars she expected to get some harassment from some guys. Hell, she was hoping for it. It was a good way to blow off some steam and after Shawna’s jackass of a boyfriend had dumped her it was exactly what she needed. What she hadn’t expected was for a group of about five guys to trap them in the alley way next to the bar and Shawna to be too drunk to proof them away. 

“You girls are pretty,” one of them taunted. They’d been mumbling shit like that since they’d gotten them back there but now the others had quieted down and one stepped forward. Lisa silently cursed herself for not realizing they were backing them into the alley until it was too late. “What are you doing out here in the Meta part of town all alone?” he continued. There was a sick smirk on his face. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Lisa said. She didn’t actually know if these guys were Metas but she needed to find out quickly.

“We’re just out looking for a good time,” he said. “But you ladies didn’t answer.”

“Oh, you know. Heading back to college. Our boyfriends are waiting on us,” Lisa lied. Not her best lie but she was also drunk but not nearly as much as Shawna, whom she was now holding up. 

“Really, then what were you doing in a bar so late at night?” he asked. He took a step forward and Lisa fought the urge to take a step back. She couldn’t handle herself, even drunk. Shawna would be a problem but she would deal with that if, and when, it came to it.

“Pregaming,” Lisa said. “Now, we really should be going. People to meet, places to be,” she said. But she didn’t dare try and step passed them, not yet. She couldn’t get to her taser yet. 

“Well, it seems to me as if there’s already been a game and we’d love to play,” he mused. He was tall, probably taller than Mick and definitely broader. 

“Too bad. You’re not invited,” Lisa said. She adjusted her hold on Shawna and reached in her purse, grabbing the taser. “Now, let’s go,” she said this to Shawna. She made to step around him but as predicted he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“I don’t think so,” he started but whatever else he was going to say was lost when Lisa pushed Shawna to the wall and brought the taser up to his neck. He gripped her painfully as he convulsed but went slack when she released it. 

“Bitch!” one of them snarled. They rushed the girls and Lisa was prepared to go down fighting but another voice stopped off of them. 

“I think the taser meant buzz off,” it said. They all whipped their heads to the voice to see a white haired lady with ice blue lips at the mouth of the alley. 

“What? Who the hell are you?” one guy demanded. And if Lisa had any doubts that these guys weren’t from her college that doubt was gone. Everyone knew who this was. 

She smiled sickly sweet and walked up to the guy. “Someone who likes to party, big boy,” she purred. Then she kissed him on the lips. Grabbing the sides of his face so he couldn’t get away. He started to freeze before their very eyes and someone gasped. 

Lisa grabbed Shawna and backed them up, away from her. There were more voices at the end of the alley. “Caitlin?” someone called. “I swear she went this way.” 

“Maybe she’s already in the bar?” a different voice asked. She dropped the frozen guy and he shattered. “Fuck, shit, nope, Barry little help!” the second voice called. A cute guy with long hair ran down the alley and a streak of lightening later a taller kid was next to him. 

“Caitlin what did you do?” the tall guy gasped. He was none other than Barry Allen, the Flash, Central University’s very own golden boy. 

“These guys wanted a game, I just wanted to win,” Caitlin, aka Killer Frost, answered. 

Which left the long haired guy as Cisco, Vibe and residential tech genius. “By killing him?” Cisco asked. 

“What do you think they were going to do to them?” Killer Frost gestured to Lisa and Shawna. “I was kinder than they would’ve been.” She stepped purposely on the shattered ice guy. “Now, get out of here before we see how else I can win.” The others didn’t need to be told twice. They grabbed their buddy who was waking up from the taser and ran. 

Lisa wasn’t sure if this was better or worse. Sure, Shawna was a Meta and would be fine but she wasn’t. And they were deep enough in Meta territory that Killer Frost could live up to her name and not have to worry about the police. “Thank, thank you,” she managed. She glanced away from them. 

She heard crunching and then saw boots. A cold hand lifted her chin to look in the icy white blue eyes of Killer Frost. “What are you doing out here? Those guys weren’t Metas so they were looking for trouble. Were you doing the same?” she purred. 

“Ayy, ay, ay!” Cisco said pushing Killer Frost back. “What I think she means is are you two okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” 

Lisa couldn’t help but smile at the kid’s genuine concern. “No, we’re good. We were just leaving. Thank you so much though,” Lisa said. She didn’t try to move around them though. She thought that they would’ve. 

“Where are you heading?” Barry asked. “I’m sure we could get you there, so you don’t run into anyone trouble.” Killer Frost chuckled at Barry’s wording. 

“Just back to campus, it’s not too far,” Lisa tried to protest. Just a solid thirty minute walk. Lisa hadn’t wanted to run the risk of seeing Shawna’s ex so she chose a bar farther out than they normally hung at. 

“Nonsense. I’ll vibe you there. This isn’t exactly a good part of town for humans,” Cisco said. 

“I’m a Meta,” Shawna piped up. Lisa wasn’t sure if she should be glad her friend was alive or horrified because that was the moment she chose to prove her life.

“Oh? Then how come we haven’t seen you around campus?” Killer Frost asked. She took a step forward but Barry flashed in front of her. 

“What she means to say is what program are you in? There aren’t many Metas we don’t know,” Barry tried to sound calm and nonthreatening but Lisa wasn’t buying it.

“Wish you boys would stop interrupting me,” Killer Frost grumbled. 

“Nursing,” Shawna answered. Killer Frost perked up at this. 

“Oh? Then it’s possible Caitlin’s seen her,” she mused. “But you, my dear, are human?” 

Lisa nodded. “And we’re leaving. Sorry to interrupt your night,” she said. A portal opened and Lisa startled back.

“Always happy to help a pair of pretty ladies, I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Killer Frost said before grabbing Barry and walking to the front of the bar.

“I said I would vibe you to campus. I meant it,” Cisco said. He offered his hand and for a split second Lisa thought about not taking it. But the thought passed and she smiled and took his hand. They walked through the portal together.

Lisa felt a rush of wind and they were out. Shawna decided that was the best moment to empty her stomach onto the grass. Lisa patted her back. She thought Cisco went back through until he cleared his throat. Lisa glanced up at him.

“Get home safe. Hope she feels better.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Maybe I’ll see you around.” 

“Maybe you will,” Lisa answered with a smile. The kid beamed and went back through the portal. It closed and Lisa let out a sigh of relief. She rushed across campus to the apartment she, Leonard, and Mick shared, practically dragging Shawna along.

She opened the door and saw Len and Mick were still up and watching TV. “About time you were back,” Len snorted. “She okay?” 

“Yeah, she’s fine. I’m going to go put her in my room then we need to talk,” Lisa said walking past them. She settled Shawna in and heading back to the living room. She sat down and Len turned off the TV to listen to her. She explained what happened from the guys, to Killer Frost to Cisco vibing them there. 

“Do they know where you live?” Len asked. He had a hard look on his face and Lisa knew he went into planning mode. 

“No,” she shook her head. “He dropped up off by the fountain.”

“Good. You’re going to stay away from them. You owe Killer Frost a debt and we don’t need her collecting on that yet,” Len said. He got up and started pacing. 

“Lenny, I don’t think she’ll call on a debt. At least not from me,” Lisa said. She tried to sound nonchalant but the look both Len and Mick gave her told her it didn’t work. 

“You’re right, she won’t. Because I’m going to make a deal with the Flash,” Len said. He didn’t look at either of them.

“No!” both Mick and Lisa said at the same time. “Snart, you insane?” Mick continued. 

“No, but I won’t let Killer Frost hold a debt over Lisa’s head. If the Flash takes my deal then you’ll be free to focus on your studies and I’ll deal with them,” Len said shaking his head. 

“Maybe they won’t want me to owe them a debt?” Lisa tried. But even she didn’t sound convinced. 

“Right, Lise, they’ll be some of the good Metas and want to leave you alone,” he scoffed. “They’re Metas. And Killer Frost is one of the worst. I’ll deal with this, you just make sure to stay off their radar for a few days at least. What were you even doing on the Meta side of town?” he asked. 

“I wanted Shawna to be able to get wasted and not have to worry. I didn’t plan on getting drunk but I did have a few drinks… those guys were just looking for trouble Lenny. There was nothing I could’ve done,” she explained. She was starting to get a headache. Tensions between the Metas and Humans weren’t high as of now but when people discovered Killer Frost killed that guy tensions were going to raise. And when they found out it was because of Lisa and Shawna, well, it was going to be even higher. 

“Let’s just go to bed,” Len said pinching the bridge of his nose. “Lisa take my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch since Beaz is in your bed.” She started to protest but a look from Mick told her that wouldn’t be a good idea. 

“Night Lenny, night Mick,” she mumbled and trudged off to Leonard’s room. There was no arguing with him when he was like this. 

Leonard looked at Mick. “Good night Mick,” he said pointedly. 

Mick stood up and looked him up and down. “You sure about this?” he grunted. 

“Yes, Flash may try to be a goodie two shoes but the other two make that difficult. They’ve put more than one of their Meta buddies in the hospital. I’m keeping Lisa as far from them as possible.” Mick just grunted and nodded. Then he walked to his room.

Leonard knew it was going to be a long day tomorrow and he was going to need back up. He flopped on the couch and fell asleep thinking up a plan. 

The next morning, he threw on his light blue long sleeved Henley and his black jeans and leather jacket. He needed one more person before he was ready to talk to the Flash. 

“You’re an idiot,” Sara Lance said after he explained everything. 

“Your point?” he countered. He’d woken her up but he didn’t care. Her classes didn’t start until two and he only had one that day. It was at nine thirty so all things considered waking her up at eleven wasn’t even that bad.

“No point, just wanted to make sure you were aware. Do you want Ava to come too?” she asked. 

“No, I’m not looking for a fight. I just want to talk but I want to go in on even footing. That’s why it’ll just be you, me, and Mick,” he explained. 

She nodded. “And where are we going to meet them?” she asked. Ava came out of the bedroom in Sara’s robe. She kissed her girlfriend on the cheek and went into the kitchen for breakfast. 

Leonard eyed her but then turned his full attention back to Sara. “They have lunch by the fountains almost every day at twelve thirty. And as much as I don’t want to do this publicly, that is the only time I know all three of them will be together,” he explained. 

“And you woke me at eleven because?” she continued making Ava snort in the kitchen. A look from Sara sent her into a fit of giggles. “Okay, you interrupted me at eleven because?” she amended. 

“Because if you said no I needed time to find someone else,” he explained. 

“Did you think I was going to say no?” Sara asked sounding offended. 

“No, I didn’t, but you know me,” he began. And Sara rolled her eyes but it was Ava that piped up. 

“You plan for everything,” she said. She put some bread in the toaster. 

“Thank you. Yes, I do. I didn’t want to go to Axel or Ralph because they’re all to ready for a fight,” he continued. 

“Which is weird because they are absolute garbage in a fight,” Sara mused. “But alright, I see you’re point. Where’s Mick? He’s joining us, right?” 

“He’ll meet us in the Plaza. His class runs until twelve fifteen,” Len said. The Plaza contained the fountain, as well as a few food shops. He didn’t know where the trio would be but they would be there. It was much more public than he wanted. Seeing three Humans walk up to three Metas would put those in the area on edge. 

“What if they don’t take the deal?” Ava said joining them. She spoke through a mouth of bread and handed Sara a cup of coffee. 

“That isn’t an option. Either they take it or they leave us completely alone,” Len said. 

“That could get messy,” Sara warned. Len nodded. 

“You know babe, I think I’ll have lunch in the Plaza today,” Ava said looking only at Sara. “Maybe see if Rip and Nate want to join me.”

“Sounds good. I love seeing those two,” Sara said in a completely innocent voice. 

“Fine, but they throw the first punch,” Len cut in. “No matter what they say we don’t touch them until they come at us.” He eyed both girls seriously. 

“Of course, we’re just having lunch,” Ava said. And damn, she’d been hanging out with Sara too much. She was getting better at the whole “I’m innocent until proven guilty and even then, I have no idea what you’re talking about” face. 

“Of course,” Len said with a roll of his eyes. “Go put on actual clothes now. Because as much as I’m enjoying the tank top and booty shorts we can’t get much done in those.” 

Sara stuck out her tongue at him and Ava glared but he just smirked back at them. When they finally got up after a minute he sent a text to Hartley asking for what he knew on Cisco, Caitlin, and Barry. What he did not expect was for Hartley to immediately call him. 

Apparently, him and Ramon were in high school together and had always been number one and two in the class, changing places too fast for either to actually keep score but they tried. And they graduated as covaledictorians. Then because Central university was a mixed species school they both ended up going there, on the Wells Foundation Scholarship. And because of a technicality Hartley was put in the Meta classes. He is technically a Meta but since he needs machines to do anything with his powers no one counts him, especially not Cisco. This has led to a deep-seated rivalry between the two. 

Barry’s mother died, or rather, was killed when he was eleven and he went to live with Joe West. This put the Wests on an Untouchable level. They weren’t Metas but they were treated like they were in the Meta crowd but they were still Humans so Humans treated them like they were just sympathetic to Metas. Iris went to school with them but Joe and Wally were also on that list. If they were ever harmed or threatened there would be hell to pay at the hands of the normally mild-mannered Flash. This helped Joe because he was a cop and Wally was still in high school, so Iris was the only one they would have to worry about. Apparently, Allen wasn’t here on scholarship in the normal sense. He was here because of a private grant from Professor Thawne. Wells also seemed to have a vested interest in Allen but on a less public stage. 

Len had heard rumors about him and Thawne that were beyond creepy. But he wasn’t really one to judge, considering how he paid for his first year. But still, he shook his head and continued listening to Hartley. 

Then finally there was Miss Caitlin Snow, Killer Frost herself. If Killer Frost was out then Len would talk to her. He wasn’t a moron wanting to die. But if it was Caitlin then he would talk to Barry, the defacto leader of the group. Caitlin was a mild mannered medical student who felt bad about the killing but that didn’t stop them. She could control Killer Frost sometimes but it was more often than not one or the other. Making a deal with her would be difficult. 

“Also,” Hartley said after briefing on each of them. “Don’t be surprised if Ramon did the same thing on you guys. Expect him to know you already. It’ll be easier. He’s not up to my level but he’s not a complete idiot with a computer.” Hartley sounded actually pained to admit that. 

“Okay, thank Hartley. Did you have this information just lying around?” Len asked. There wasn’t really time from the text to the call for this much research. 

“Of course not. If it were lying around someone could see it. I’ve already had this downloaded. They are three of the most powerful Metas at this campus. I wanted to be prepared. The whole ‘keep your head down’ thing doesn’t work for me,” Hartley scoffed. “If you need their weaknesses later I’ve got that too. But if you want to go the pacifist route first, that’s fine too.”

Len rolled his eyes. “Right, thanks, I’ll keep you posted. I’ll probably want that information later though.” Hartley agreed and they hung up. Sara and Ava came out of the room. “I don’t want to know what took you so long, let’s just go.” 

“What?” Sara said grabbing her white leather jacket. “You were on a call, we had time.” Len groaned and left the dorm. Ava and Sara kissed once more as they left the building. Sara and Len were taking the direct route to the Plaza whereas Ava was going to find Rip and Nate. 

They arrived a little after noon to find Mick already at a table. “Class got out a little early so I figured I’d come down to scope out the place,” he said by way of greeting. Len nodded and they sat down. The fall weather was just on this side of cold to be chilly and comfortable. He’d always liked the colder weather, and not just, as Lisa claims, because he looks good in leather. Which he does but he pointed out to her one time that he liked his leather jacket and looked good in it and now she won’t stop taunting him about it.

A little before twelve thirty a very red headed Caitlin and Cisco show up and grab a table by the fountain. Two minutes and twenty-one seconds later Barry flashes in next to them. They don’t seem bothered at all by his sudden arrival, barely even breaking conversation. 

They get up and get some food right on schedule but as they come back they are joined by none other, Miss Untouchable Iris West. Len frowned but he would still need to talk to Barry. Just because she was now there it didn’t change the seriousness of the situation. Len glanced over to the left and saw Ava laughing with Nate, Rip, and Kendra. He took a breath and stood up. He felt more than saw Mick and Sara do the same.

He made his way across the Plaza ignoring the eyes on him. The talking had quieted down to a whisper. The four people at the table stopped talking and looked at him as he approached. Sara and Mick stopped a few feet away but Leonard strolled right up to the table. 

“I hear some thank yous are in order here,” he drawled, sounding as bored as he could. 

“Oh? And why’s that?” Iris asked. She looked at him with a challenge in her eyes and Len was almost grateful she wasn’t a Meta. 

“Well you see, this trio saved my sister’s life last night, so thank you. I’m in your debt,” he said as casually as he could. 

But Hartley had warned and Cisco didn’t disappoint. “Isn’t your sister, Lisa, in our debt?” he asked. He sounded more curious than hostile, for now. 

“You did save her life but I’m the one that should have been there with her. Therefore, I’m the one that owes you,” he reasoned. 

Caitlin’s eyes flared white. “And her little friend? You taking that one too?” she asked. Her lips twisted into a half smirk before she shut her eyes and shook her head as if to clear it. 

“Yes,” Len said without hesitation. He hadn’t been sure because she was a Meta if they would Shawna owe them but Len was willing to go to bat for both of them. 

Barry was quiet but Cisco burst out laughing. “Really? You’re going to take on a debt for a Meta. And here I thought they called you Captain Cold because you didn’t care about anything,” he sneered.

“I care about keeping it even. And now I owe you two. That’s the only reason I’m over here,” Len said. 

Barry glanced behind him then met his gaze. “Really, that’s the only reason you’re here? Then what are they doing?” he asked lazily. 

“They’re my friends. You’ve got friends Flash, so I brought mine. I said I like to keep it even,” Len mused. “So, do we have a deal? It’s me or nothing.” He plowed on through. He didn’t need Barry following that line of questioning. 

“Who are you trying to make this deal with?” Cisco asked. He leaned forward to study them.

“Preferable Killer Frost but seeing as she’s not here, I’m making it with the Flash,” Len said. He shifted to look directly at Barry. 

“And why is that, Snart?” Barry scoffed. “Caitlin saved them and Cisco got them back to campus, shouldn’t they be the two you’re talking to?” There was a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips and Len wanted to punch it off. 

“Be that as it may, you’re the one usually doing the good deeds and they help you. I figured I’d cut out the middle man and go straight to the source. I owe you two, or I walk and you get nothing. Take it or leave it,” Snart said. He held out his hand to Barry. 

Everyone was looking at them but Snart didn’t take his eyes off Barry’s. “Deal,” Barry said. He took Snart’s hand firmly and the shook on it. “So, you owe me anything?” Barry asked. 

“If I’m able to provide it I will. And if I can’t then I’ll do my best to get it. A life for a life,” Snart said. 

Barry smiled and Len really hoped he hadn’t misjudged the kid. He didn’t need a crazy speedster to ask for favors, a normal speedster was quite enough. “So, you’re saying you owe me two lives then, anything I want?” Barry clarified.

“Yes, if I can provide it,” Len said taking his hand back. The smirk the Flash had on his lips unnerved him more than he’d like to admit

“Why?” Iris asked. She studied him and Len leveled his gaze at her.

“Because I have no doubt that Killer Frost would have wanted something and I’m more useful than Lisa,” Len said. 

Iris glanced at Caitlin, who just shrugged. “He’s not wrong. She would’ve wanted something and this will be a good compromise, although she may not like that you made the deal with Barry.” 

“I’m sure Barry will run his favors by her before he calls them in,” Len said, with more snark than he had been using. “Good to meet you in person.” 

“Have you had lunch yet?” Barry asked before he could turn away. “You should join us.” 

“We were about to get lunch. Another time perhaps,” Len said with a smile that was more teeth than joy. 

Cisco huffed a laughed and Barry nodded. “Perhaps. Oh,” he flashed something into Leonard’s hand. “That’s my number. In case you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Len said and turned to walk away. Sara gave the table a grin before she followed and Mick grunted then followed as well. He didn’t stop until they were out of the Plaza, and back into the main building. 

“That went well,” Sara remarked with a teasing grin. 

“Yup, and I’m going to kill Beaz, because I now owe that Meta two favors instead of one,” Len grumbled. 

“You could’ve said no,” Sara reminded him. 

“Then Lisa would’ve killed me,” Len huffed. 

Sara laughed. “It’s really funny how you’ve like adopted these underclassmen. Even the Metas that have come to you.” 

“Shawna was already friends with Lisa and Hartley is hardly a Meta,” Len said. They headed to the cafeteria. 

“Okay, fair point, but then you’ve still got the Mardon brothers, who, okay don’t follow you around would help out in a pinch and you’ve helped them on occasion,” Sara said. 

“And those hot chicks,” Mick spoke up for the first time. 

“Those hot chicks have amulets to activate their powers, again not technically Metas,” Len corrected him. They were more magic based than science but that was an argument for another day. Besides, Amya, Zari, and Kendra, and to a lesser extent Kendra’s boyfriend Carter, followed Sara around more than him. They were becoming legendary that when something at the school went wrong it was probably them. Len and Mick had only been involved in most of those incidents and he really only caused like two at most. 

Mick just grunted in response. Len rolled his eyes and looked down at the piece of paper. A notecard with the name Flash and his phone number. He programed it into his phone, ignoring the way Sara tried to look at the number. He sent a quick, ‘it’s Snart,’ message before shoving both the phone and paper into his pocket. 

They walked pasted the windows to get a good seat in the dining hall when Len was blindsided. He tumbled to the ground and both Sara and Mick whirled on the guy. Sam Scudder was grinning down at him with his ditsy girlfriend, Rosa Dillon, giggling behind him. “Whoops, didn’t see you there, Snart,” he sneered. 

“Sure, you didn’t,” he got up with more grace than most and stood toe to toe with him. Mick and Sara were at his sides as soon as he was up. “Just watch where you’re going next time, or I won’t be the one of the ground,” Len threatened. 

“You threatening me, Snart? That’s a dangerous thing to do,” Scudder whistled as if he was impressed. 

“Not a threat, a promise. One I will enjoy keeping. You wanted out, not my fault you left on bad terms,” Snart drawled. They were drawing the attention of the people in the dining hall but Len couldn’t bring himself to care. It was lunch so the crowd was quite large meaning Scudder probably wouldn’t try anything.

“One day I’m going to enjoy knocking you down a few pegs,” Scudder growled. 

“And I’ll enjoy seeing you try,” Len vowed. He didn’t break eye contact and he knew he’d won win Scudder did. He wrapped his arm around Rosa and scoffed as he walked off. 

“Jackass,” Mick grunted. That broke the tension and Len and Sara couldn’t help laughing. 

“Couldn’t have said it better myself Mick,” Sara said clapping him on the back. “Now let’s get some food before I have to go to class.” 

“You’re actually going to this one?” Len teased. Sara had a habit of skipping the classes she didn’t deem important which was most of them. 

“Ra’s al Ghul will kill me if I’m kicked off the team because of grades so yes I’m going,” Sara huffed. “I swear he’s like a slave driver.”

“He just wants one of his star players to not be suspended,” Len said without trying to comfort her. 

“And Nyssa isn’t being suspended.” Sara smirked. 

“Don’t let Ava hear you,” Mick warned. 

“Actually, we talked about and she’s totally down for a three way. I mean we have to talk more but she’s willing to try,” Sara mused. Her eyes flicked to Len and caught his gaze. 

“No thanks, I choose life. And sleeping with you and any combination of those two will end that,” Len shook his head. “Not going down the jealous partner road again.” 

“To be fair though,” Sara countered. “I was still technically with Oliver when we slept together. It was only fair he came after you.” They were sitting now, having found a small table in the corner. 

“To be fair he was in love with Laurel and you were about to break up. He had no right. I was dodging arrows for like a week,” Len pouted. Mick and Sara just laughed. They found it hilarious and even Lisa had no sympathy for him. 

“But he didn’t actually hit you,” Sara mused. 

“No, ruined my jacket though, pinning me to that stupid wall,” Len grumbled. He shook his head as they broke into another fit of laughter. 

“Am I interrupting something?” Mark Mardon asked coming up to the table.

“No, they’re just idiots,” Len assured him. He gestured to the seat but Mark shook his head.

“Have you seen Clyde today?” he asked. He glanced around the room. 

“Not today, why? Did he come home last night?” Len asked. The other two calmed down to listen. 

“No, and that’s not weird it’s just he didn’t call or message me. And I’m sure you’ve heard about the increased tensions I just don’t want him to be the idiot we know he is and get himself hurt,” Mark said. He sounded disappointed but not surprised. 

“Yeah, Lisa and Shawna were harassed last night.” He held up his hand to stop Mark. “They’re fine. We’ll keep an eye out but I’m sure he’s fine and just drank too much,” Len assured. 

“Thanks Snart. I gotta get to class. Later,” Mark said with a wave he jogged off. 

They waved then ate with comfortable banter. Sara had to run off to class and Mick had practice at three so they hung out in the hub area until then. Len took Mick’s bag and headed back to the apartment when Nate and Ray joined him for football. 

He passed Lisa with a wave. She was heading off to the library to study for most of the day and into the night. She wanted to be a lawyer but she had to keep her grades up and Laurel had said they could study together. Lisa wanted to get a study room because it was always easier to camp out there than in the main library area. 

Luckily one in the corner was free and she sat her stuff down. Prelaw was hard but she kept reminding herself it would be worth it. She started setting out her books and laptop when a knock at the door stopped her. 

“Hey,” Cisco said. The door was only opened a crack. “I saw you walk in here and I just wanted to see how you were?” he asked with a small smile. 

“I’m good,” she said, a smile creeping onto her own lips. “Tired, but good. Thanks again, for last night I mean.”

“Don’t mention it,” Cisco said. “So… met you’re brother today,” Cisco trailed off. 

Lisa kept her face blank. “Yeah, he said he was going to talk to the Flash,” she said. She started getting the books out of her bag again. 

“You know why he wanted to see the Flash?” Cisco continued. 

“Yes, I do,” she said. Then more to herself she said, “He’s a self-sacrificing idiot.” Then she looked up at Cisco with a sharp smile. “So, if you’re here to collect a debt you think I owe you.” 

But Cisco cut her off. “No, no, no, no, god no. I’m not here for anything like that. That’s mostly Caitlin, er, well Killer Frost’s thing. Although good on him for getting out ahead of this thing. I was seriously just here to see how you were, and properly introduce myself.” He stepped in. “Hi, I’m Cisco Ramon.” He held out his hand to her. 

She smiled and took his hand. “Lisa Snart. Nice to meet you.” She shook it and then sat back down. 

“Nice to meet you too Lisa. Uh would you, maybe want to get coffee? Or something? Later, not now, you just sat up so not now. Not even today, just later. If you want,” Cisco started to ramble.

“Cisco,” she cut in and he stopped and looked up at her. “I’d love to get coffee later.” She tore off a piece of notebook paper and wrote down her number. “Text me. I’m sure I’ll need a coffee break in a few hours.” 

Cisco looked down at the piece of paper as if he couldn’t believe it was in his hands. “Yeah, sounds good,” he said after a moment. He smiled at her like a puppy and Lisa couldn’t help the grin that grew. 

The door opened again and Laurel almost bumped into Cisco. “Oh, Cisco, are you going to be joining our study group?” she asked scooting by him. 

“Nah, I just stopped by to say hi,” he assured them. “What up Felicity?” He greeted the blond with a hug. 

“Well darn, I needed another person to talk shop with,” the tech genius pouted. 

“Why what’s up?” Cisco asked, suddenly interested. 

“It’s probably nothing. But you know the rising tension and all,” Cisco’s eyes flicked to Lisa then back to the device in Felicity’s hands. “Well Oliver is worried that something is going to come of it and he’s having me look into it. And it’s probably nothing but then I was like what if it’s something so that’s why I’m here. Because the internet is faster here than at my dorm and I need the fastest I can get if I really want to prove this is nothing or not.” 

“Felicity!” Cisco shouted. All three ladies jumped. 

“Right sorry. Look at this.” She played the screen for him. Nothing happened. 

“Am I missing something here?” Cisco asked. 

“Exactly! Nothing happened. And nothing will happen for the next thirty minutes,” she said. She pressed the fast forward button and true to her statement nothing happened. 

“Okay,” Cisco drew out the word. “What does that mean? It was three twenty in the morning. It’s likely to be a dead time.” 

“Right, and that’s why I didn’t think anything of it until Oliver told me he couldn’t sleep and thought he saw someone so he followed them, right passed this spot,” she explained.

“You know he’s going to get arrested for stalking, right?” Cisco cut in. 

“We know,” Laurel and Felicity answered together. Felicity continued. “He wanted to see who it was because they tagged the bridge but he couldn’t see them and then they didn’t show up on the camera, and neither did Oliver. So, I did a little more digging and at the exact same time for the exact same timeframe there were four other dead zones around campus.” 

“Was anything else tagged?” Cisco asked. He took the device from her to look at the other locations. 

“Not as far as we could tell,” Felicity explained. 

“What was painted?” Lisa asked. She wasn’t sure if she should be listening but they were in a closed room so it wasn’t like they were trying to hide it.

“That’s the thing. As far as we could tell it was a rainbow,” she said. 

“So, what? Some late night pride? I’m confused,” Cisco asked. He handed her back the tablet. 

“We don’t know. Oliver is thinking they were just testing out the blackout times. But I’m not sure. So, I’m combing over the footage to see what I can find. Want to help?” Felicity asked. She started to set up her stuff on the other side of the table. 

“Uh, yeah!” Cisco say excitedly. “Black outs across campus sounds awesome! Have you checked anywhere else in the city?” 

“I haven’t had a chance to, that was going to be the first thing I checked when I got this set up,” Felicity said. 

She and Cisco quietly chatted while looking at the computer. Laurel and Lisa studied their notes and it was a peaceful time. Cisco and Lisa went and got the four of them coffee at the on-campus coffee shop, Jitters. 

Cisco didn’t say much but it was nice, and neither of them felt it necessary to fill the silence. Although, she did have to tease Cisco that his drink was more sugar than actual coffee. To which his response was an indignant gasp and a claim that, “Sugar is better than coffee.” She laughed while she waited and almost missed Sara watching her from across the shop, almost.

“I’ll be right back,” she told Cisco. She hurried off before he could respond. “What?” she demanded when she made her way over to Sara, Ava, and Rip.

“I didn’t say a word,” Sara said with a small, knowing smile. 

“I know that look. What is it?” Lisa said again. 

“That’s Cisco, right? He doesn’t really like Len, but he is cute, isn’t he?” Sara said. She glanced over Lisa’s shoulder and looked at him. He was watching them and looked away quickly when they noticed him. 

“Lenny can do his own thing and so can I. I was studying with Laurel and he joined us. It was all circumstantial,” she said. “You’re going to run and tell him, aren’t you?” 

“There’s nothing to tell. It’s just studying and coffee. Nothing going on. Besides, he’s worried about other things. Apparently, Clyde’s missing. Or at least Mark thinks he is. Hasn’t seen him in over twenty-four hours,” Sara said. 

“It’s turned into to quite an adventure for Mark,” Rip mused. “I would almost say he was worried if he weren’t incapable of human emotions.” 

Ava wrinkled her nose. “You’re just mad that he won the debate.” 

“It wasn’t a good argument!” Rip exclaimed. 

“Guys!” Lisa snapped. “I may have something about that. Felicity and Cisco have been going over blackouts around campus and they’re looking through the city. They’ve found like two more in the city. I’m not sure about all of it yet but it could have something to do with Clyde not showing up. Felicity said Oliver was following someone in the area but neither of them showed on the cameras. I’ll keep an eye on them. See if there’s anything more.”

Sara nodded. “He’s gonna get himself killed doing that,” she muttered. The others nodded. “I’ll let Len know. Mark’s not taking Clyde disappearing well. I think Len’s gonna snap and both the Mardons will be donezo.” 

Lisa chuckled and turned to walk back to Cisco. He was still watching them but at least this time he was trying to be sneaky about it. “Oh, and Lise.” She turned back around. “Good luck on your test. Laurel’s stressing out about it too but you guys got this.”

A smile broke out on her face. “Thanks, I needed that.” They waved and she went back over to Cisco. She rejoined Cisco and brushed off whatever he just said with a laugh. Sara pulled out her phone. 

“Who’re you texting?” Rip asked. He didn’t even look up from the computer he was typing away at. 

“Just letting Len know he may want to have a chat with the Flash,” Sara mused. She put her phone away after hitting send. “Now, what part of your play were you having troubles with?” Sara asked.

Len looked down at his phone and almost smirked when he saw Sara’s name. Mark was driving him up a wall. He showed up at their door and asked to crash after class. Now he was making threats and calling his brother and making more threats and Len was worried the neighbors might complain. 

‘Talk to the Flash, Vibe’s looking into something that may be connected.’ Then a rundown of what she knew. He stood up causing Mark to stop whatever he was ranting at now. “I’m going out, which means you can’t stay here. Bye,” he said taking Mark by the shoulder and leading him to the door. 

“What? Where are you going?” Mark demanded. He didn’t try to stop Len though.

“Wherever I want.” Len opened the door and shoved Mark out it. He grabbed his jacket and followed him. “Go get dinner. You’re no good to anyone if you let yourself become a wreck,” he said. Len locked the door and walked past him. He didn’t look to see where Mark went, it didn’t matter. He took out his phone and sent a message to Flash telling him to meet at the bar Saints and Sinners in ten minutes.


	2. Let's Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len chat, it doesn't go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, this chapter was done on time but my computer was black and wouldn't turn on or off. As soon as it turned off I plugged it in and it turned back on without me losing what I'd done. So here you go! Unbeta'd as always... any mistakes are mine. Please let me know!

Snart was only about five minutes away walking there. It was near enough to campus to be considered a neutral zone. They served and employed Metas and Humans alike, which in and of itself was unusual. But it also meant that meeting with the speedster wouldn’t be too unheard of and it would also be public. 

One of his favorite waiters and coworkers, Eddie, was working tonight. Eddie worked to pay off college because even though his uncle, Professor Eobard Thawne, worked at the university and was loaded he refused to help Eddie in any way and the two pretended the other didn’t exist. He ordered a burger and fries and sat down to wait. 

Six minutes and forty-seven seconds later, Barry Allen came waltzing in, looking only slightly windblown. He took the seat across from Len with an amused smirk. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one texting you?” he teased. 

“Things have changed. I want to amend our deal,” Len said taking a bite of a fry. 

“What? Scared of what I might ask that you’re already backing out?” Barry taunted. 

“Hardly,” Len said matching Barry’s smirk with one of his own. “But some new information has come to light and I want to make this more mutually beneficial.” 

Before either of them could say more Eddie came back over. “Hey, Barry, what can I get for you?” he asked with such a genuine smile it had no business being in fast food. 

“Uh, Rootbeer and a milkshake,” Barry responded with a smile. 

“Yeah, sure.” He jotted it down. “Hey, have you seen Iris today?” Len could hear the hope in his voice. 

“Yeah, yeah, we had lunch together, she’s good,” Barry said nonchalantly. Len noticed Eddie’s smile drop just a faction.

“Oh, yeah, good, awesome. I was just wondering. You must’ve been who she was talking about. We were going to get lunch then she had to cancel,” he tried to say it as if was no big deal but he wasn’t fooling anyone. 

“Oh, god, Eddie, I’m so sorry. It’s something for her blog and I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” Barry said. “I’ll make sure she’s free tomorrow, I don’t want to interrupt your plans.” And Len almost believed him. Almost.

“Thanks Barry, but it’s no big deal. We’ll get around to it. You know, busy life of a college student. I’ll be right back with your drinks,” Eddie said. His genuine smile seemed more forced now but Len wasn’t sure if he was reading too much into it. 

“So, what did you need?” Barry asked turning back to him. 

“I hear there have been some blackouts around campus,” Len began. Barry raised an eyebrow. “And a friend of mine went missing last night. Correlation does not mean causation but I’m not a big fan of coincidence either.” 

“Cisco mentioned something about that. And you think these two things are connected and you think I know something?” Barry asked in disbelief. “And here I thought you were supposed to be smart, Mr. I’m Here on a Scholarship.”

“You’ve done some digging,” Len mused. “But yes I am smart and here on a scholarship. One I don’t intend to lose on my last year. Which is why working together will be beneficial for all of us. How about this. I’ll tell you what I know and you stop me when I say something wrong.” Barry didn’t respond and Leonard took that as a cue to move forward. “Oliver Queen was out and about last night and decided someone looked shady enough to follow. But the guy gave him the slip, which in and of itself is a hard thing to do. Wanting to know who this guy was Queen asked Miss Smoak to pull up the cameras, only to find nothing, not even Mr. Queen. Upon further investigation dear Felicity finds that there are quite a few blackouts around campus and even a few in the city but she hasn’t had a chance to examine everything yet.” 

Eddie brought out the drinks but this time he didn’t stick around. Whether he was bummed about Iris or saw the seriousness of the situation Len wasn’t sure. “Is that what you think?” Barry scoffed. 

“No, Flash, that’s what I know. Here’s what I think. Oliver came to you to talk to you about the blackout. Wanted to know if you or your little group knew anything. But the only thing your group knows is Metas are going missing. Everyone can feel the rising tensions but no one is quite sure why. Except your inner circle. You may not know exactly what’s going on but I’d bet you knew more than most. Am I close, Flash?” Len sneered. 

“That’s some wild theories there Snart. And if you start making those theories accusations…” Barry’s hand started vibrating for just a moment before it stopped. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Like I said. Working together is going to yield better results,” Len said rolling his eyes. He wasn’t even mildly frightened of the Flash one on one. It was only when there were the variables of his friends did Leonard think the Flash would really do something. Otherwise, he had never killed or even seriously injured someone.

“Okay, let’s say you’re right for argument’s sake. Why would your friend and by extension you be caught up in it?” Barry said. He flashed one of Len’s fries and dipped it in his milkshake. 

Len glared at him. “Because my friend that went missing is Clyde Mardon, Meta that controls the weather. Ever heard of him?” Len taunted. 

Barry’s expression darkened. “Right, I forgot you hung out with rogue Metas that don’t interact with Metas like they should.” Barry rolled his eyes. “I’m still not seeing where our change in agreement comes in. Right now it just sounds like you’re blowing smoke.” 

“Right, what I propose is for one of my favors I help you stop the Meta disappearance, help you get them back if possible. All I’m asking for is any information you have or get that you tell me as well. The other favor is still yours,” Len suggested. 

“Why would I need your help? I’ve got a good team and friends working on this,” Barry said quietly. He leaned in closely, forcing Len to do the same. “What can you offer me that my team doesn’t already have?” he asked. His voice low and Len couldn’t help but glance down at his lips as he spoke.

“Aside from an outside perspective?” Len murmured back. “You’ll get someone with friends that aren’t afraid to break the rules to get what we want. And if worse comes to worse, you get a fall guy.” Barry’s eyes widened in shock. 

“What? You’re willing to take a hit for us?” Barry asked in astonishment. 

“Not me per se but I’ve got a guy,” Len smirked. “Let me worry about that, you’ll need to focus on these missing Metas.” Len leaned back.

“Wow, have to say, I was not expecting this when I came here tonight,” Barry mused with a chuckle. 

“Oh and what were you expecting?” Len asked. He finished the last of his fries and moved the plate to the side. 

“I mean, you have a bit of a reputation, so I thought you would try to get out the deal a different way. You know, make a big show of making the deal then quietly make it go away.” Len sat up straighter. “What? You did say I didn’t my research. It’s only right I would know about your dating, or well, really fucking history. Have to say, Cisco didn’t want to read your file but I didn’t have a problem. I was curious how you made ends meet since you’re here on a partial scholarship but I got my answer. You really can’t seem to catch a break, can you?” Barry said with somewhat of a dark chuckle. 

“Flash I would let the conversation drop if I were you. You’ve made whatever point you were trying to make. Let’s end this on a cordial note,” Len warned. He left enough money on the table for the food and a nice tip. After ordering the same thing over and over he knew how much it would cost. He got up from the table. 

“Is that what you would say to them to get returning customers? Cause that sounds awfully rehearsed,” Allen said. It looked like he really had done his homework. 

Of course he’d been doing the same thing with Barry all day. Hartley was able to find quite a lot. “I may not be able to catch a break Flash,” Len said barely over his shoulder. He knew he should just walk out of there but he really didn’t like people thinking they had the upper hand on him. “But then again neither can you. Did they ever catch your mommy’s killer or is daddy still rotting in prison like the guilty man he is?” 

Without warning he was suddenly outside and slammed against the wall of the building next to the bar. He saw stars as his head cracked against the wall and he really hoped he didn’t have a concussion now. 

Lightning danced across Barry’s eyes and Len could feel the heat and rage coming off him in waves. “Don’t you dare mention them,” he growled. The hand around his throat tightened and a fist slammed into the wall next to his head, denting the bricks. “Don’t speak about things you know nothing about.” 

“Grant me the, the same courtesy,” Leonard gritted out with the limited air. His hands grabbed Barry’s wrist but there was no moving it. In fact, it may have even tightened, if the black spots dancing in his vision were any indication. 

A dark chuckle came from Barry and Len was seriously questioning his choices to this moment. The lightning crackled across Barry’s eyes again. “You being a whore is not the same as my father wrongly imprisoned. I’m not making a deal with you. Get over it.” Barry flashed to the other side of the alley and Len dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. “Thanks for the shake, Leonard.” And then he was gone. 

Len gasped on the ground and fought falling. His vision was swimming so he didn’t try to stand for several minutes. When he did finally make it to his feet he used the wall for support. He glanced over and saw blood where his head hit. Gently he reached to feel the wound and sure enough it was bleeding. 

He sent a quick ‘SOS my place’ text to Shawna and slowly started the walk home. He didn’t pass anyone on the way home and for that he was grateful. The world kept tilting but he managed to make it home without falling. 

Lisa was the first to show up and he should’ve known Shawna would text her. “Oh my god Lenny!” she gasped when she walked into the kitchen. He was attempting to clean the wound, but god it stung.

“Hey Lise,” he greeted with a wince. “Let me tell ya, you go a few years without trauma and it really lowers your tolerance back down,” he tried to joke. 

“You moron! If it wasn’t your head I would smack you, move your hands I’m going to get a towel,” she huffed. She went to get a towel and wash cloth and the door slammed opened. Sara, Mick, and Shawna burst into the apartment. 

Shawna set her first aid kit down and Lisa came back in with a wash cloth and towel. Shawna didn’t waste any time getting to work. 

Sara on the other hand. “I’m gonna kill ‘em,” she snarled pacing back and forth. 

“Who? You know who did this to him?” Mick asked. That caught Lisa’s attention. 

“Yeah, it was the Flash, wasn’t it? That’s who I told you to meet with,” Sara growled. “God, I can’t believe this.” 

“It was antagonistic,” Len said. “We both threw verbal jabs at each other.” He winced when Shawna applied pressure. “Mine just stuck a little deeper than his.” 

“He’s a dead man,” Mick growled. 

“He’s a speedster,” Len reminded them. “He could take you all out before you got close to him. And we don’t want that.” Lisa grabbed her phone and started texting furiously. “What are you doing?” Len demanded, wincing again. 

“Texting Hartley. Give it three days max and I bet he can have something for our little speedster problem,” Lisa said. She didn’t take her eyes off the phone. 

“No, we are not going after the Flash, or Vibe or Killer Frost or anyone in that group. I’m the only one that will have contact with him and that is only when it is strictly necessary,” he said. Shawna finished cleaning the wound and wrapped it in gauze. 

“Get some rest. You guys need to stay with him to make sure he doesn’t do anything too exhausting and go see the doctor if a headache or dizziness persist. Please take it easy,” Shawna said. “I’ve got to get back, I ran out in the middle of roomies night, I’ll check on you tomorrow.” 

She waved and they all murmured their goodbyes. Sara turned on him the moment the door was shut. “What did you say that made him attack you?”

“He mentioned how I can’t seem to catch a break so I mentioned his mother’s murder and father’s imprisonment,” Len said. He touched the back of his head and winced.

“Well he’s not wrong,” Sara said carefully. “What else? What did he say to you. You’re usually so cool under pressure.”

“And I was. But he mentioned my partial scholarship and I refuse to be looked down on by the likes of Barry Allen of all people. We all have skeletons in our closets, even him.” 

Lisa came over and gave him a hug. “Lenny I’m sorry.” Len just hugged her back fiercely. He wasn’t ashamed of what he’d had to do. Sure, he’d lied about his age when he was still a minor but he’d always looked younger than he was so he didn’t have any problem selling the lie that he was eighteen.

He’d started selling himself when he was sixteen to help Lisa, it wasn’t like their father was going to do it. And he was careful. It was only after he was eighteen did he get arrested for solicitation but his cop father always made the charges go away. Len got smart and stopped getting caught but the damage was done. The files were out there. Which Barry had clearly read. 

But not all of them. Or else he would’ve also read about hospital visits as a kid. The child service letters that never helped. And really just how much better Len and Lisa would’ve been if they’d been in Barry’s position. But he probably only looked at the newer documents. 

“So I’m guessing this means Team Flash isn’t going to help us with Clyde,” Lisa sighed letting him go. 

“No, but Barry all but confirmed that there are other Metas missing. Did you learn anything else?” he asked. 

Lisa shook her head. “Not really. Just that there were ten blackouts all over the city and five here on campus. We have no idea where they were taken from,” she explained. 

“I’ll talk to Mardon tomorrow. See if he knows where his brother might have been. It’ll at least give us a starting point. Have Hartley look in to the other disappearances. People have to have noticed them missing which means a paper trail.” He tried to stand but a wave of dizziness hit him. Lisa caught him before he fell. 

“Okay, you’re going to bed. Future nurse’s orders,” Sara said coming up to the other side of him. Together they got him to his room. And even though he protested they insisted on getting him out of his pants and shirt to sleep. After gently removing his shirt he shooed them out to take off his pants. 

Sara sent a text to Ava saying she was over at the Snart’s apartment and she would be back in the morning. She made up a little bed on the couch and the three promised to take turns waking Len up and checking on him before they said their good nights and went to bed. 

Len woke up with a pounding headache and he really wished he didn’t know why but of course he did. The others checked on him throughout the night which was nice but necessary in his opinion. But he sighed and got ready for the day. And today was his busy day. He had class at nine thirty to ten forty-five, then eleven to twelve fifteen, then a break for lunch until one to two fifteen, and his last class of the day from two thirty to three forty-five. He wanted to be done before five o’clock. 

It was boring and mind numbing but it was only two days a week. Monday he had a nine thirty and once a week class at five and Wednesday just the nine thirty one. He showered and got dressed slowly, careful to avoid his wound. He didn’t need anything going wrong with it. Lisa was already gone for her eight am class and Mick was snoring like a freight train. Sara was folding the blankets when he walked out.

“How you feeling?” she asked, glancing at him.

“Like I hit a wall with super speed,” he mused, unamused. 

“Good to see that blow to the head didn’t dampen your snark, Snart,” she teased. 

He grabbed a bagel and swallowed some ibuprofen dry. “Me too, I’m sure you all would miss it.” 

“Uh huh,” she huffed. “Come on, I’ll walk you to class,” Sara said. She grabbed her things and stood by the door. 

“Don’t you need to get back to Ava?” Len asked as the left. 

“She knows I’m up and heading that way. She’ll probably be back asleep when I get back away.” Sara waved him off. 

“Whatever.” Len shrugged. The building was close and luckily all but his last class were in this building. He said good bye to Sara and prepared to sit through the boring classes. Lisa texted him about lunch and he agreed but all in all it was a boring normal class. His second class however he was not so lucky.

It started out normal enough, Professor Thawne lectured and brought out his PowerPoints. But just before class ended Thawne ended his lecture. “Mr Snart,” he said. 

“Yes?” Len said. It wasn’t normal for Thawne to address any of them. He was the type that didn’t take attendance. 

“If you have a few minutes after class I’d like a small meeting,” he said. Len didn’t like the way he was looking at him. 

“Sure, I can do that,” Len agreed. He had time, he would just cut his lunch a little short. 

“Very good. Class dismissed,” Thawne said. He packed his papers away and headed out. Len took his time gathering his things. A few other students threw him glances but most didn’t even spare him a second thought. He sent Lisa a quick text telling her he’d be late for lunch and to meet him in the mess hall instead of Jitters where they normally met. 

Thawne’s office was on the top floor and Len didn’t feel like walking so he leaned against the wall while he waited for the elevator. Len glanced up and saw the absolute last person he wanted to see. Barry Allen was walking down the hall, talking quietly with Felicity Smoak. The elevator dinged and Len got on quickly. Just as the doors were closing Barry glanced up as if he could feel Len’s eyes on him. The doors shut as they made eye contact. 

Len shook his head gently and rode to the top floor. There were less people up here, it was mostly an office floor for the professors. He knocked on Thawne’s door and heard, “Enter.” He pushed the door open and saw Thawne sitting at his desk, reading glasses on, the lights low with soft music playing. 

“Please sit,” he said indicating to a chair. Len didn’t say anything as he sat, putting his bag to the side. “What happened to your head?” he asked still not looking up from the paper. 

“I got into a disagreement,” Len answered. No way he was going to say who that was with. The professors nearly worshiped the ground the Flash walked on, especially Thawne.

“Right, right…” he mused. Finally he sat the paper down and looked right at Len. “So, through the grape vine I heard you met with Barry Allen last night.” Len regarded him with an impassive look. “And I just wanted to let you know, don’t do that. I know about your history with the legends, as they like to call themselves, and I know you’re a trouble maker. Allen is a good student and he doesn’t need to be tainted by you.” 

Len would never admit to how much he hated hearing those words. He had really turned his life around but it seemed everyone wanted to remind him how much of a screw up he really was. “Well, Professor,” Len said, his voice dripping like honey, “who I meet with is entirely my business and not yours. So I think if your little star wants to be tainted by me, then I won’t be able to convince him one way or the other, and same if he doesn’t. Seems to me you should be having this little chat with him not me.” Len grabbed his bag and stood up. “If that’s all then I’ll be going.”

Thawne was in front of the door before Len could blink. “I don’t think you’re hearing me correctly Mr. Snart.” He took a step forward and without think Len took a step back. Thawne grinned and stalked forward, Len backed until he hit the wall. And even then, Thawne didn’t stop until they were only about a foot apart. “Stay away from the Flash. For any reason. I don’t care about that little life debt, or the missing Metas. You are not to go near him.”

“So, there are Metas going missing,” Len said. He raised his chin in defiance. “Are you threatening me Professor? I feel like the broad wouldn’t be happy about that.” Len tutted. 

“And I feel no one would believe you.” Thawne’s eyes flicked down to his neck and the ring of bruises there. “People with head injuries are so often unreliable.” Len gasped as a hand grabbed his already damaged throat. He tried to claw at his wrist but Thawne pinned one of his wrists and the other was having no luck releasing the pressure. With a smile he let go of Leonard’s neck and he sucked in a breath. “Well, maybe your sister but even then.” Thawne raised his hand. It was vibrating and he pointed it at Leonard’s chest. “Accidents happen and prelaw is so stressful it’s almost like those poor students are going to have a heart attack at any moment.”

Len stopped struggling. He got the message. He looked Thawne dead in the eyes, “Barry Allen who?” he said with a cool smirk.

The door clicked and Len found himself in the chair and Thawne on the other side of the desk. Barry Allen was in full view when the door swung open. “Mr. Allen, what a nice surprise,” Thawne said with a smile. 

Len tried to rub his throat without making it obvious but the way Barry’s eyes flicked over to him, he would bet he didn’t do a very good job. “Eobard, I’m actually here for Leonard.” Thawne’s eyes darkened and he glanced at Len. “I saw him come in here and I wanted to make sure he didn’t forget we were meeting.”

“Gonna have to take a rain check there, Allen,” Len said. His voice came out rough. “I’m busy.” He stood up. “Can I go?” he demanded more than asked. 

“Of course,” Thawne said. “Just keep in mind what I said and your grades will be fine.” Len didn’t look back as he shouldered past Barry. 

He went to the elevator and hated that no one went to the fourth floor and the elevator was so slow. He finally got in and hit the close button but a hand opened it again. Barry stepped in.

“What did he say to you?” Barry asked when the doors closed again. 

“We were discussing my grades, didn’t you hear him?” Len said. He unconsciously rubbed his throat.

Barry’s eyes followed the movement. “That’s a load of crap. He doesn’t care about anyone’s grades. What he does care about is me. So, what did he say to you?” 

“Warned me not to taint his golden boy. To stay away from you. And look how well that’s turning out,” Len scoffed. “I’m not one to judge but a word of warning kid. Whatever you have going on with Thawne seems dangerously unhealthy, at least where he’s concerned. I would try to break it off sooner rather than later. Possessive would be an understatement.” 

For the first time Len saw him look unsure and embarrassed. His cheeks flushed red and he looked away. “There’s nothing like that going on,” he said, his voice cracking ever so slightly. 

“Like I said, I’m not gonna judge.” Len shook his head, headache coming back in full force. “If only you’d afford me the same.” 

“I’m sorry,” Barry sighed. “I started it last night and it got out of hand. How’s your head?” Barry was looking him over and Len had to stop himself from looking away. 

“Concussed, but I’ll live. But I got the message. I’m staying away from you,” Len said. Barry flinched. God he wanted this elevator to go faster, this throat was hurting and he just wanted some more meds he knew Lisa was carrying. 

“Did I?” Barry put a hand to his own throat to indicate the bruises on Leonard’s.

“Yes,” Len said without hesitation. Barry flinched again. The door binged and they were at the basement. “So long, kid,” Len said stepping out of the elevator. He didn’t wait for Barry to say anything else, he just started walking. Having two speedsters threaten him in less than twenty-four hours was not how he wanted to spend his day. 

He grabbed his food and found Lisa. She was on her phone and only looked up when he loudly set his tray down. She glanced up at him. “Wow, you look like hell.” 

“That tends to happen when you have a concussion,” he mused. He wasn’t a fan of soup but the bagel had been hard to eat and this soon after Thawne’s grip he didn’t want to try anything like that again. “How was your test?”

“Fair point. And I think I rocked it! Laurel and I went over so much last night I thought my brain would fry but it really paid off when I knew everything that was on the test. You were right, not cramming the night before works!” she said excitedly. 

“I usually am,” he chuckled. She threw a fry at him and they both laughed as it hit him right in the forehead. Lisa had been studying on her own pretty much every night, except her girls’ night out, but she really wanted to nail down the details so she and Laurel decided to study together. “But that’s great. I knew you could do it.” They fell into a comfortable lull. 

Neither wanted to discuss the missing Metas or the Flash. Len didn’t plan on telling anyone else about Thawne. But he certainly was going to heed his warning. He just needed to get through the school year and then he could graduate and be done with this drama. He would join the CCPD until Lisa graduated two years after him. Then she would start law school. 

He was saving everything that wasn’t for essentials to go towards her school fund. Once she graduated they would open their private practice. What started out as a joke really took on a life of its own when they met Sara and Laurel. 

No one believed them when they went to the police about their father and that made Leonard not trust the police. But he was getting a duel major of psychology and criminal justice and a minor of child psychology. They would start a private firm where Leonard and Sara would be private investigators. Not just of affairs and what not but specialize in missing persons, children, and even cold cases. Things no one else wanted to do. And then, if a crime was being committed Laurel would be the one to prosecute them and if someone needed defending Lisa would defend. 

He had no doubt Mick would eventually join but right now his heart was set on being a fire fighter. Mainly just to satisfy his urge to start fires but it was a start. Len knew they couldn’t do this alone but it was a start. And with Sara getting a business degree with a minor of business administration and organizational management he hoped they could start. 

All too soon he had to get to class. He stood up and started to leave. “Bye you jerk,” Lisa called. 

“See you later train wreck,” he called back affectionately. Lisa just rolled her eyes and went back to her phone. Her test had been at eight am because she hated herself and made sure to have an eight am everyday but Friday. Her next class wasn’t until two and she was content to just chill at the table until then. She didn’t have a test to study for so she brought out her laptop to do some research. Sure she wasn’t as good as Felicity or Cisco or Hartley but she could find something. 

Hartley had gotten back to her with a few places to start so she put in her earbuds and went to work. Until someone knocked on the table. Cisco sheepishly waved and she took out her ear buds and shut her laptop. 

“You ran out of there so fast last night I didn’t get a chance to tell you good night,” he said with an awkward smile. 

“Did you want this table? I was just leaving,” Lisa said. She started packing her things back up. So far, she could only find two confirmed disappearances but she’d only been looking for roughly twenty minutes. 

“What? No, I was hoping I could sit here, with you, I mean,” Cisco stumbled over his words. 

“Well I was just leaving.” She stood up and intended to head to the door but Cisco moved to block her path. 

“What’s wrong? Last night was fun hanging out in the group and I thought the coffee run was good. What happened?” he asked. 

“Why don’t you ask Flash, hmm? Now get out of my way,” Lisa nearly growled. 

“What? Barry, what about him?” Cisco looked genuinely confused and it made Lisa pause. 

“He didn’t tell you.” Lisa said. It wasn’t a question. “Well Lenny went to go talk to the Flash last night and came home with a concussion and lovely necklace of bruises. I don’t care what Lenny said, that was out of line. So, stay away from me and tell the Flash to stay the hell away from my brother.” She pushed past him and he gasped but she kept on walking. She didn’t want to hear anything more from him. 

She decided to just go to class early and wait. There was only like thirty minutes left until her class anyways. But that would’ve been too easy. Cisco ran after her and caught her arm. “Don’t touch me,” she snarled wrenching her arm out of his grip. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But two things. One, I’m sorry for what Barry did, but he doesn’t attack people randomly.” 

Lisa cut him off with a bark of laughter. “Are you saying that Leonard, an unarmed Human, posed a threat to The Barry Allen, Flash Extraordinaire?” Lisa practically spat.

“I’m saying I don’t know the facts but that’s not important, what is important is you’re in danger,” Cisco said. His eyes were wide and earnest. 

“What?” That stopped her. “We go to a Meta and Human college. Of course, we’re in danger,” she tried to play it off. 

“No, not like that. I vibed you.” At her expression, he went on. “Sometimes if I touch someone I get a vision, past, present, or future. I can’t control it when I vibe accidentally. And I’m pretty sure I just vibed your future unless you’ve been in a cage before,” Cisco explained. 

“Nope, outgrew dog crates too quickly to be a viable option,” Lisa half joked. Cisco looked at her in slight horror but she didn’t offer any explanation. When she was really little sometimes Lewis would lock her in a crate while he took Len on jobs. Until Len threatened to get them caught unless Lisa was out of the cage. Len had been black and blue for the next month but Lewis had locked her in the closet so Len had considered it a win. Lisa on the other hand did not because Len was hurt worse than usual but was grateful to not be in a cage anymore.

Cisco shook his head. “Okay, then sometime in the future you’re going to be in a cage.” 

“When?” Lisa interrupted. 

“What?” Cisco asked. He had been about to say something else but paused. 

“When am I going to be in this cage? Because I can’t live my life as if I’m going to be scooped up the next minute and thrown into a cage. So, you either need to tell me when or let me go to class,” she reiterated. 

“I-I don’t know, vibing isn’t an exact science,” Cisco admitted. 

“Then I’ve got class,” she said and turned on her heel. This time Cisco didn’t stop her. She got to class and through class with little incident. Luckily Professor Cecil wasn’t boring. After class, she decided to go watch Mick and the rest of the football team. They had an away game Saturday which meant he would be gone for the whole weekend. She sat on the bleachers and pulled out her books. She would convince Mick to go out to dinner with her and they would snag Lenny on the way so she wanted to knock out some of her homework now. 

She had barely opened her book when a female voice dragged her attention upwards. “Hi there, are you Lisa Snart?” 

Lisa startled back a little when she saw the voice belonged to none other than the Untouchable Iris. She shut her book and looked around just on the off chance there was some other Lisa Snart around. “Yes?” Lisa answered. 

“Awesome, hi, I’m Iris West. I write for the school paper. We’re doing a piece on the football team since the Metas and Humans all practice together but can’t actually play together,” Iris said a smile plastered on her face.

“What does that have to do with me?” Lisa asked. She still glanced around again just in case she was missing something. 

“Well, I’ve seen you with Mick Rory and a few of the Meta players. I was hoping you could introduce me? I think that would go better than me walking down there by myself. Please, I just want to ask them a few questions,” Iris said. She clasped her hand together and gave Lisa the puppy eyes. 

It didn’t work, Lisa still didn’t want to do this, especially after what the Flash did to Len. “Fine, but their practice just started at three. You’ll have to either come back at five or chill here,” Lisa finally said. 

“Yes, oh my god thank you,” Iris said, her smile turned genuine. “I’ll wait here, if you don’t mind the company?” Iris pitched her voice up in a question. 

“Free bleachers, do what you’d like.” Lisa gestured to the spaces around her. 

Iris smiled and sat down a seat lower than her. She also pulled out her laptop but Lisa knew from experience the schools WiFi didn’t reach that far. She pulled out her book and began working on the questions. And if a small smile came to her lips when Iris huffed and put her computer away, well, no one was around to see it.

The girls worked in silence. Lisa sent a text to Len about dinner and he promised to make something, not wanting to go out. Iris sent and received a few texts but Lisa didn’t care enough to try and see who was texting her. 

The practice ended and Lisa had to nearly restrain Iris from running onto the field. She made her wait by the entrance to the field where the majority of the guys would leave from. Mick and Ray from the Human team and Jax and Nate from the Meta team all walked out together. Mick seemed to be the only one who thought it was odd Iris was standing there. 

“Hey, Lisa, what’s up?” Ray asked. He glanced over at Iris and his eyes widened slightly as if he just realized who she was. 

“Guys, this is Iris West, she’s writing a piece on the football team and wanted me to introduce her. Iris, this is Ray, Nate, Jax er sorry Jefferson, and Mick.” Lisa said pointing to each of them. 

“Hi, you can call me Jax, everyone does,” Jax said offering his hand with a sweet smile. 

“Hi,” she took his hand returning his smile. “And you wouldn’t happen to Ray Palmer would you? Friend of Oliver Queen?” She stuck out her hand to him.

“Friend isn’t the word I would use, but yeah, that’s me,” Ray said with an embarrassed half smile. 

“Awesome, and Nate, Barry’s mentioned you from a few of his history classes, that’s you right?” Iris asked, shaking his hand.

“Yeah, that’s me, I’m the history guy,” Nate said with a dopey smile. 

“And Mick, hi, nice to formally meet you,” Iris held out her hand but Mick just looked at it and grunted. She pulled her hand back after a moment. “Okay… but like she said. I’m writing a piece on the mixed practices of the football team and how that affects your games. Even though Humans and Metas can’t play together the practices have to affect your games,” Iris explained. 

“I mean yeah,” Jax said with a shrug. He leaned on the fence trying to act cool. Lisa took that as their cue to leave, and so did Mick. 

“There, now you’re introduced and we have someone waiting on us, bye guys,” Lisa said grabbing Mick’s arm to pull him away.

“Later Haircut, Pretty. Work on your form Kid!” Mick called as Lisa drug him away. 

“Wait!” Iris called. “I’ll be right back.” And she jogged the short distance to catch up with them. “Are you guys going to see Leonard?” Iris asked. 

Lisa’s features darkened and so did Mick’s. “What’s it to you?” Lisa asked, guarded. 

“I just, I wanted to say I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. But he’d been training with Thawne to better control his powers and it’s put him on edge,” Iris said, her shoulders slumped in defeat. 

“Good to know,” Lisa huffed. “Don’t irritate the Flash or he’ll hurt you. I’ll keep that in mind.” Lisa turned around and started walking again.

But Iris grabbed her arm, “Lisa wait,” she began. 

“Don’t touch me,” Lisa snarled whirling on her. Before she could do much else Ray was there holding her, literally, so she couldn’t get to Iris. Nate was at Mick keeping him from both Iris and Ray while Jax stood protectively in front of Iris.

“Hey, whoa, let’s just calm down,” Ray said to a snarling Lisa. 

“Mick, buddy, hey, calm down Iris didn’t do anything,” Nate tried to reason. 

“Get out of the way Pretty,” Mick growled. “Doll and I are going.” Mick pushed away from Nate and over to Ray. 

“Doll, let’s go,” Mick grunted. Lisa stopped struggling and Ray set her down carefully. 

She took a deep breath and looked Iris dead in the eyes. “I’m tired of your excuses. So, you and Team Flash better stay the hell away from me, Len, and Mick. Got it? I don’t care if you’re Untouchable, or if they’re Metas, they hurt Lenny, or Mick and I’m coming for you and I will make you pay.” Lisa said in a deadly calm voice. Iris covered her mouth in shock.

The others stared at her in shock. Mick just grunted and glanced at the others. “The Flash has a temper and Snart got on the wrong side of it.” Then he looked at Iris, “Hurt Lisa and I’ll make sure you all burn,” he said in his scratchy voice then he followed after Lisa. Neither threw a glance back at the stunned group. 

Their apartment was across campus and it gave them enough time to cool off before the entered. Len was in the kitchen, going slow but preparing food. “What’s on the menu today, Lenny?” Lisa asked flopping onto the couch. Mick grabbed a beer then went to his chair.

“Pasta, a salad, and garlic bread,” Len listed off getting out the ingredients. Lisa perked up at that. “Not made from scratch.” And now she looked like someone kicked her puppy. “I’m too tired for that but I promise Sunday when Mick is back I’ll make something special.” She grinned and flopped back onto the couch. 

“Met Red’s reporter today. Lisa gave her a thorough warning.” Mick said after a few minutes of silence. 

“Traitor!” Lisa gasped at the same time Len whirled around. 

He ignored the slight dizziness and glared at both of them. “You threatened Iris?” he demanded, his voice cold as ice. 

“I mean, I’m sure it could be taken that way…” Lisa mumbled. “But I only warned her to leave us alone. I snapped after Cisco this morning and I just-”

“What happened with Cisco?” Len asked, or really demanded. Mick sat up a little straighter.

“It was nothing. He just said the Barry didn’t attack people for no reason then Iris said he’d been under a lot of pressure from Thawne and I snapped. They can make all the excuses in the world for him but if you or Mick would’ve done something like that you’d be arrested for assault,” Lisa rushed. 

“I didn’t report it,” Len reminded her. 

“Right, because that would’ve done anything. His foster dad is a cop and we all know how well the cops protect their own,” she said darkly. 

Len looked away from his sister’s burning gaze. They knew Lewis had friends to help him hide their injuries and later Len’s record. “You can’t tell me West wouldn’t have done something to make this your fault and Barry defending himself.”

Len sighs but doesn’t answer. She’s not exactly wrong. He turns back to the cooking. Lisa turns on the tv and Mick just sips his beer. It isn’t often they’re all home like this but it’s nice when they are. Len’s phone lit up and he rolled his eyes. “Sara and Ava want to know if they can come over for dinner,” he reads. 

“Sure. The more the merrier,” Lisa said cheerfully.

“Careful or there will be too many people to fit,” Len muttered. He thought back to a simpler time. Freshmen year when it was just him and Mick. Then Sara joined them. Then Rip joined her. Then they adopted the Legends. Then the Mardons came to him for some scheming. Then Scudder and Dillon, then they had a massive falling out. Then more Legends and Rogues, as Barry put it. Now Len couldn’t go anywhere without someone seeing him and waving him over. It was annoying at the best of times and dangerous at the worst. 

His phone dinged again. “They say thanks and they’re bringing a dessert,” Len read the text out loud. 

“Now that’s how you show up to someone’s house,” Mick said raising his beer. The girls arrived a few minutes later with store bought cookies. Len shooed them into the living room while he finished dinner. 

“What happened to your wrist?” Sara asked catching his hand. 

“Nothing,” Len lied. 

“What the hell Lenny who did this?” Lisa demanded coming over to them. 

“It’s not important. Okay, I handled it,” he lied again. 

“No, no you didn’t. Lenny, we don’t keep secrets, especially about something like this,” Lisa said grabbing an ice pack. 

“We must’ve missed this on the first run down. Being focused on my head and neck I just didn’t realize my wrist had been grabbed,” Len lied. “I told you Lise, haven’t have a concussion in a while, I had to prioritize. Now can we drop it?” Lisa glared at him but didn’t say anything. “Thank you. Can we talk about anything else?” 

“How about maybe the Flash isn’t a good person and his friends just make up excuses,” Lisa offered. 

Len rolled his eyes. “Why would we want to talk about that?” Len asked pointedly at Lisa.

“Uh, because Thawne’s training Barry and we really don’t need another crazy speedster on campus?” Lisa pointed out as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“How do you know that?” Sara asked. 

“I may have threatened Iris West after she tried to excuse Barry’s actions,” Lisa said with an embarrassed chuckle.

“My girl!” Sara said putting her hand up. Lisa high fived her with a laugh.

“No, don’t encourage her!” Len took a breath. “Let’s just forget about speedsters.”

“Aren’t those things about Thawne rumors though?” Ava asked. She was on the couch watching the tv. 

“Rumors tend to be based in some sort of fact,” Len mused. “I don’t think he’s actually a time traveling murder pirate but I wouldn’t put it past him to be running from something, that’s kinda his thing. And Allen is chummy with him so I don’t want to be there when things come to a head. And you won’t be there either,” Len scolded. He pointed a wooden spoon in Lisa’s direction. 

She just smirked and raised her hands. “Fine, no Meta talk, got it.”

“Good, besides, dinner’s ready now,” Len said. He got out the strainer for the spaghetti and pulled out the giant salad he put together earlier. Lisa would never admit it but she loved salad and Len would always make her extra.

They got their food and decided to put on some B rated horror movie to laugh at. It worked and they ended up watching all three of them. By the end of the third everyone was laughing and ready for bed. Desserts had been eaten and Lisa promised to clean the kitchen tomorrow. Ava and Sara left promising to stop bothering them. Everyone knew it was a lie but they left with smiles on their faces. They also left the cookies much to Leonard’s annoyance and Lisa’s glee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and kudos! Next chapter will be out next weekend. I'm trying to stay on the two-week schedule but because of the week delay of this chapter, I'm gonna bump the next chapter up. Hope you guys liked it!


	3. This is Getting Out of Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len learns more about the disappearing Metas. Lisa shows once again why you don't touch her without her permission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I had a bad day at work and wanted to post some stuff to feel better. It's a mini update. The full update will be Saturday then I'm gonna try to go weekly. Sorry if Barry seems OOC, there is a reason, we will learn it, not yet though.

The next morning Len woke up with less of a headache. It was Friday which meant he was working a double at Saints and Sinners. Kendra had asked him to cover for her and he needed the money so of course he wasn’t going to say no. He put on his dark blue shirt that hugged his chest and arms in the right way, he needed tips, and his jeans that both Sara and Hartley assured him his butt looked good in. 

He grabbed his waiter apron since he’d be a waiter in the morning and switch to bartender once his actual shift started. He left a note for Lisa and told Mick good luck on his game before he grabbed his jacket and headed out. 

Kendra usually opened on Fridays so Len was the first one there. He checked the cook for the day and the morning bartender. Both were people he liked and Eddie would be in that night to take over as waiter so he figured it would be a good day.

And for once Leonard wasn’t wrong. It was a good day. He made a decent number of tips in the morning, he now had enough for rent and utilities which meant the rest would be for groceries then savings.

Eddie was in a good mood. He and Iris had had lunch together and although Len really didn’t want to hear about it he let the lover boy talk. They had a decent dinner rush and Len made more than enough to get groceries for the rest of the month. 

It was only when they were closing up did Len think something was off. He was taking the trash out to the dumpster when he felt the air crackle with electricity. Blue lightning cracked down the alley and Len ducked into the shadows. Barry’s lightning is yellow, and Thawne’s was red but he’d never seen blue before. He waited a few more minutes before he goes back in, just in case. 

The next day goes much the same way. Then at the end of the night the speedster with blue lightning ripped through again. Len was already hidden this time. And he passed in front of the alleyway then the other side then he stopped right at the mouth of the alley. 

His suit was black and he looks like a demon. Leonard thought he was going to die. He didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t outrun a speedster, even at their slowest. So, he doesn’t waste the effort trying. He just stood up and stared at the thing. It threw it’s head back and let out an inhuman noise and then ran away. Len realized after another minute of standing there it was laughed at him. 

He took a few steps to the bar but was promptly thrown across the alley. He landed hard but was grateful he didn’t hit his head this time. He stayed down for several minutes but it didn’t come back. He shoots Hartley a text asking how close to being done are those anti-speedster weapons. Hartley’s reply is almost instant. Forty-eight hours and counting.

Sunday he was supposed to get off early but Eddie begged him to stay because he just got a date, a real date with Iris. Len had sighed but he couldn’t say no to those puppy eyes. Sunday was always a dead day so he ended up bored most of it. By the end of the night he didn’t want to take out the trash but he wasn’t going to let the new girl, Hannah Bates, take it out.

She was a cute red head that asked too many questions but he didn’t want her attacked by the speedster. He went out the trash but this time it was different. Someone else was there. “Clyde?” Len asked in shock. He dropped the bag. 

He flinched back and Len felt the wind pick up. “Shit, Snart! Keep your voice down,” he growled. 

“Mark has been looking for you,” Len commented walking closer to him. “You gave him quite a scare.”

“He better be scared these people are crazy,” Clyde mumbled looking around. 

“That’s quite enough out of you,” a deep voice said. Len looked up to see some guy in a military uniform. Before Len or Clyde could move the man shot Clyde. Len gasped and stumbled back as Clyde fell. “Relax, just a dart to the neck.” He turned to Len and pointed something at him. “Not a Meta huh… then why did he come here,” the man mused. “He knew you.”

“No idea, we went to college together but we weren’t close,” Len said scooting back until he hit the wall. “But as far as I’m concerned I never saw him.”

“Good man,” the guy said holding out his hand. “General Eiling, United States Army. This Meta was in our custody and is very dangerous, thank you for distracting it long enough he could apprehend it. You’ve done a great service to your county.” Len took his hand and shook. The general helped him to his feet. “And who do I have the pleasure of thanking?” 

“Michael, Michael Scofield sir,” Len lied. It was one of his aliases. 

“Well Mr. Scofield your country owes you a debt,” he said and reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “Call this number if you see any more delinquent Metas, we don’t want anyone getting hurt.” 

Len took the card and studied the numbers. “Of course, sir, that’s the last thing we want.”

The air crackled and suddenly the black clad speedster is right in front of the general. Len forces himself not to take a step back. “He’s there.” Eilling points at the unconscious Meta and the speedster looks at him then at Len. Len meets his gaze. Then in a blink, Clyde, the General, and the speedster are gone. 

Len looked down at the card. It only had a phone number on it. “Because that’s not super shady,” Len muttered. He put the card in his pocket and went back inside. He went back inside and helped Bates finish closing. 

This had gotten out of hand. He wasn’t going to have anyone else be threatened which meant he needed to take a few steps back from it all, and by that he meant disappearing Metas and Metas in general. They finished closing and said their good byes. So, Leonard started home.

A quick text from Hartley with ‘it’s done,’ and then an address down by the docks. Len smiled and hurried home. He didn’t say anything when he stormed in. Lisa and Mick perked up from the movie they were watching but he went to his room. Quickly he changed from the tight V-neck long sleeve to a comfy turtle neck. 

He walked back out and smile. “Come on, Mick, we’re going out.” Mick nodded and downed the rest of his beer then stood up. 

“Where are you going?” Lisa asked perking up. 

“Out, we won’t be long,” Len promised. “We’ll be back before the end of the movie. But shouldn’t you be in bed?” 

“I was waiting for you,” Lisa huffed. “Since you’ve been working so late. I made pizza.” She pointing to the counter. There was half a frozen pizza but Len smiled, it was the thought that mattered. 

“Thanks, I’ll have some when I get back. But I’m not the one with an eight am tomorrow. So good luck with that.” Len smirked. He reached for the door and let Mick out first. 

“Good night Jerk!” Lisa called. “Night Mick!” 

“Night Train Wreck,” Len called back.

“Night Doll,” Mick said as Len was closing the door. He locked it and headed out. They started away from campus and were quiet for a good five minutes before they broke the silence. 

“Where we going, Boss?” Mick asked. 

“Harley texted me. The anti-speedster weapons are ready,” Len said. He checked his phone once more for the address, not that he actually needed to. 

“And you didn’t want the Doll to come because?” Mick asked in his usual monotone that somehow also sounded really judgmental. 

“You’re being awful chatty tonight,” Len remarked ignoring the question. 

“She threatened the Untouchable Iris. I’m just being curious,” Mick said giving him a side eye. 

Len shook his head then grinned at his partner. “You know. There is something I can’t believe. And it’s that when Lisa was threatening Iris you stayed quiet.” The smirk on Mick’s face told him all he needed to know. “Thought so.” Then he sighed. “But it is for that reason she’d not here. I don’t need her to get any more involved in this. Metas are going missing and there is something much bigger at play here than a few college kids disappearing because they’re on a bender and showing back up later.” 

“You don’t think Mardon just wandered off?” Mick raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m almost certain he didn’t,” Len mused. He ran his fingers over the card in his pocket. 

They opened a door and went into the warehouse. “Welcome gentlemen!” Hartley called when the door shut once again. “I have the guns as requested.” He waited until they were closer to pull off a sheet. There were two guns on the table. “I’ll need to go over some finer details with Lisa about hers but I figured getting these two out first couldn’t be too hard. And in only forty-six hours.” He glanced at his nails as if he were inspecting them. “Sometimes I even impress myself.” 

“Glad you impress someone,” Len mused. Hartley sputtered and Len picked up a gun and pointed it.

“Whoa, insult aside let’s not point that at someone unless you’re gonna fire,” Hartley yelped. He ducked out of the way and pushed the gun to the side. 

“How does this work?” Len asked. Mick picked up the other gun and looked it over. 

“You point and pull the trigger,” Hartley snorted. Len rolled his eyes. “But put these on, or, you know, blindness.” Hartley handed them both a pair of goggles. 

They put on the googles and Hartley put on his own pair. Mick wasted no time in setting boxes at the other end on fire with a shout and Snart let them burn for a moment before he froze the flames.

“See? Easy.” Hartley said with a smile. “Any questions?” Hartley put the goggles on his head, so did Mick. Len let them dangle around his neck. 

“I must say. I like this, but aren’t they a bit conspicuous?” Len asked looking at the large guns.

“Yes, okay but we couldn’t figure out how to make them smaller,” Hartley admitted. 

“We?” Len asked raising his eyebrows. 

“I, uh, may have had to involve Ramon. Briefly! Mind you! And he was almost no help,” Hartley assured quickly.

Mick snorted and Len rolled his eyes. “Does Ramon know what these guns can do?” Len asked. 

“No! Of course not. He helped with the blueprints. It was all theoretical as far as he or Wells are concerned,” Hartley said. Len looked at him closer. “I was designing them in Well’s class and Cisco saw me working on them then wanted to know what I was doing and when I told him to buzz off Dr. Wells came over to inquire the same thing. So, I told them it was a cosplay thing and I wanted to see if guns like that could be made. Ramon was more than happy to help after I said cosplay.” 

“And is that how we’re supposed to explain carrying these?” Len asked. 

“I mean yeah,” Hartley said with a shrug. “Don’t go carrying them around where Wells or Ramon could see them too often but if you do have them that’s what I’d do.” Hartley shrugged. 

Len just shook his head once more for good measure. “Thank you so much Hartley. I knew you wouldn’t let us down.” 

“No problem. And I didn’t tell Lisa like you asked but I’m still making her that golden gun. I’m not getting on her bad side,” Hartley warned him. He closed up the container that must’ve held the guns. 

“Fine, fine,” Len growled. “Just don’t tell her and stall and I don’t care.” 

“Good with me Boss,” Hartley said. Len turned to leave and Mick looked ready to set something else on fire but he didn’t, just followed Len out. “Good night gentlemen!” Hartley called as they left. 

Lisa was in her room when they got back. Mick went to crash in his room and Len ate some cold pizza before heading to bed. This week he would look into the Metas disappearing a little more then he would tell Mark he didn’t find anything and be on his merry way. 

The next morning Lisa decided Monday mornings are her least favorite morning. She is pretty much a zombie as she gets up early for coffee, like she did every morning. Carter was working that morning and Lisa did’t even have to say anything before he was typing in her order. He worked most mornings and Lisa is not going to complain that he is the strong silent type. Seven thirty is too early for conversations.

She took the coffee, with whip cream no charge because Carter is the best, and headed to class. She and Laurel agreed to meet to study some more tonight, and basically every night, for their next test on Wednesday. 

She started to wake up when her second class started and actually felt like she knew what was going on in it. Of course, she probably didn’t but she could deal with that later. After class, she went to the main building to wait for Lenny to get lunch.

“Well hello there gorgeous,” a voice said. 

Lisa looked up at her book to none other than Ralph Dibney, biggest wannabe ho she knew of. She glanced around to see if Len were around but he wasn’t. She did see Cisco getting a coffee but then she let her slide over Dibney, and right back to her book. “Fuck off, Dibney.” 

“I just said hello, am I not allowed to be friendly?” he asked in a painfully over the top hurt voice. 

“Guess not,” she said. She still didn’t look up from her book. 

“Fine, straight to business then,” Dibney said with a sigh. 

“What, you actually had a point for coming here?” Lisa mocked with a signature Snart smirk. 

“What was brother Snart doing around Allen?” Dibney asked, or more like demanded. “He’s not going Meta soft is he?” 

At this Lisa did put down the book, carefully put it away and then stood up to look Dibney in the eyes. “What Leonard does is no concern of yours, so I’m going to ignore that question. But don’t, don’t bring your blatant prejudges here. You go to a mixed school, deal with it,” she said in a deathly calm voice. Yes, even she was wary of Metas but it was only a minor thing, she was more worried about men than anything.

“Listen, you know what I mean. Sure, you know some of the good ones but-” 

“Enough Ralph, I don’t want to hear it,” she snarled. She grabbed her bag and tried to step past him but he grabbed her arm. 

“Listen I was just asking-” The crack to his jaw wasn’t expected and he fell to the ground.

“Don’t touch me,” she growled. She was glaring down at him and he was holding his jaw. 

“Lisa! Are you okay?” Cisco said rushing over. Kendra was on his tail. Her hands started fluttering around Lisa, as if to check for damages. 

“I’m fine. Ralph here needs to learn not to touch people,” Lisa said. She smiled at Kendra. “Really, I’m fine,” she assured her. 

Kendra nodded and went back to Jitters, she and Carter worked the lunch shift together before he had to go to class. Lisa turned around, ignoring Cisco until. “Crazy bitch,” was muttered. She whirled around but somehow Cisco was faster. A portal opened underneath him and opened up about ten feet off the ground outside in the grass. They watched Ralph scream as he fell. 

Lisa looked over at Cisco with wide eyes. Cisco turned back to her with a genuine smile. “Thanks,” she said, quieter this time. 

“Course, didn’t think some dick like Dibney would get away with insulting you, did you?” Cisco asked. 

“I can handle myself,” she said, more defensive than before. 

Cisco’s smile never left his face. “Of course you can. That was for you as much as me. It just gave me an opportunity to vibe him outside and no one think twice. After all, I was defending your honor,” Cisco said. 

Lisa couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that so?” Cisco nodded and she shook her head. “In that case, thank you, for defending my honor.” She gave a slight curtsy. 

“It was my pleasure.” Cisco gently took her outstretched hand and kissed it as he bowed. Lisa actually gasped and when Cisco looked up she was sure she was blushing.

“Hey sis,” a cool voice said. It seemed to snap Cisco out of his stupor and he scrambled back. Len came up to stand beside Lisa and glare at Cisco. “What’s going on?” 

“Ralph was being an asshole so I decked him then Cisco here decided he’d be better outside,” Lisa said grinning like a wolf. 

“That so?” Len asked. He didn’t glance behind them to see Ralph now dusting himself off. 

“Yup,” she said and popped the ‘p.’ 

“Well he seems to be very well outside. So good bye Cisco,” Len said pointedly. 

“Bye Lisa,” Cisco said getting the not at all subtle hint to leave. Then he nodded once at Len, “Snart.” And then he was gone. 

Len rolled his eyes and let them land on Lisa. “Why’d you deck Dibney?” he asked as they walked to the mess hall. 

“He was being blatantly prejudges against Metas and when I tried to step around him he grabbed me. But it’s all taken care of,” she explained with a smile. 

“Because of Cisco?” he asked. 

“What? No.” She shook her head. “I had it handled. He just decided to help out a bit. It was… nice,” she said almost fondly. 

“I’m sure it was.” Len shook his head and they got food, continuing the conversation when they sat down. “What was he saying?”

“A bunch of the same shit everyone says. Even stuff you say,” Lisa said waving her hand absently. “He asked if you were going Meta soft. With Mardon and Shawna and the Legends it seems people are starting to talk.” 

Len watched her carefully. “I’m sorry,” he said and Lisa stopped a bite halfway to her mouth. 

“What now?” she asked. “You’re sorry for having friends?”

“No, I’m sorry because I say shit like that too. I forgot how much it bothered you,” Len explained. 

“Oh, oh yeah, no, I know. And I don’t know how you can say those things when you hang out with Metas all the time but yeah,” Lisa began eating again. 

“I’m working on it… this Meta thing with Mark and Clyde though…” Len shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. Like I know I shouldn’t want Metas to go missing but at the same time I can’t bring myself to care about them.” 

“I know,” Lisa said. “You agreed to help Mark but other than that who do you really know that’s gone missing? You aren’t expected to care about every Meta that goes missing just like you don’t have to care about every Human that goes missing.” She took another bite and studied him for a moment. “But it would make me feel better if you cut back on some of the Meta stuff you say. Like, go ahead and insult the Flash and whatnot, he’s an ass and deserves but maybe leave everyone else out of it?” 

Len smiled. “I can do that,” he promised. They finished lunch in comfortable conversation. When Lisa had to hurry off to her class Len decided to go to the library. He might as well actually look into the disappearances. 

He wasn’t sure if he had the best luck or the worst of luck. Felicity was in the library and there was an open computer by her. But on the other side of her was Oliver Queen. He still had never forgiven him for when he’d slept with Sara, while she was with Queen, and he was with Laurel. It was complicated. 

Suffice it to say Oliver and Sara became official, after Laurel dumped Oliver. Then Laurel and Tommy got together, and Sara dumped Oliver to get with Ava. Now Felicity and Oliver did this on again, off again thing and it annoyed everyone involved. He only knew this because Sara kept him in the loop. He sighed and pulled out the chair next to Felicity.

She didn’t notice him until he leaned closer. “Miss Smoak?” he asked. 

She yelped and clutched her chest. Len wasn’t even trying to surprise her. “Leonard, hey, don’t scare me like that,” she said, all wide eyed. 

“Sorry, I’ve got a question for you,” he began. 

“Whatever it is Snart, no,” Queen said without looking away from him computer. 

“Queen, wasn’t sure you could hear me with those headphones in,” Len commented. 

“When you show up bad things tend to happen so I like to be fully aware of my surrounding, especially when my girlfriend is involved,” Queen said in an even voice. 

“Oh, that was one time, get over it,” Len huffed. He saw Oliver’s jaw tightened and he allowed the smirk to creep onto his face. “But I’m not here to discuss our past I’m much more interested in you my dear,” Len turned back to Felicity. 

“Me?” she squeaked. 

“Well, my dear. As you know there is a bit of a disappearing Meta problem and I’d like for you to send me anything you have on that,” Len said. There was no point in beating around the bush. 

“Why?” she asked. Oliver turned to watch him. 

“A friend of mine, a Meta, was taken. I’m hoping to get to the bottom of this,” Len said. He pulled out a piece of paper. He wrote down his email address and the phone number he was given. “And can you discreetly look into this number for me?” 

“Who gave you this number?” Felicity asked. She took the paper. 

“It’s not important. I just need to know anything you can get on this number. I’ll make it worth your while,” Len promised. 

Queen turned to fully glare at him. “Sorry, I’m not into you like that.” Felicity said, her eyes trailed up his body. “Not that you’re not hot or anything because you are but, like, I’m with Oliver so no thank you. Even if that’s never stopped you before.” She looked like she wanted to stop talking but couldn’t. “I didn’t mean to sound like that. I know you didn’t know Oliver was with Sara at the time. But like even if you did would that have really stopped you? Because,” 

“Felicity,” both men said at the same time. “Stop,” still in unison. They looked up to glare at each other. Well, really Len was smirked and Oliver was glaring. 

“Just get me the info and look into the number. Please and thank you,” Snart said. “I hear Raymond has some fancy new tech I’m sure you’d love to get your hands on. Get me this info and I can get you that, deal?” He held out his hand. 

“Oh, hell yeah,” she said taking his hand. 

“Excellent. Here’s my number, text me if you need anything,” he said and wrote it on the paper with the other information. Then for good measure he winked at her and stood up. She waved bye as he left. 

He pretended he didn’t hear her chair scoot, her yelp, and then a loud kiss. He was perfectly fine with Queen being threatened by him. It was fun. He walked out of the library and decided to head to the computer lab. His class was in that building after all. But as soon as he walked in there was Barry Allen. 

Len sighed and hurried to the steps, hoping Allen hadn’t seen him. He was in conversation with some other Meta but Len never did have a lot of luck. “Snart! I’ll see you later, hey, wait up,” Barry called. 

Len did not. He kept walking and pretended he didn’t hear him. But of course, the kid didn’t give up. He tasted electricity then Barry was at the bottom of the stairs holding the door open for him. He raised his chin defiantly and walked through without acknowledging him. 

“Snart, hey, so I wanted to talk to you about the disappearances,” Barry said in what was basically a stage whisper. 

“I don’t want to talk, you also made it really clear you didn’t want to talk Wednesday,” Len said. He pushed open the door to the lab, empty. He sat down at an end computer with a clear shot to the door. “So, unless this is a favor, beat it.” 

“It’s not, but okay, please just listen then,” Barry said. “I was talking with Felicity over the weekend about the disappearances. So far, we’ve been able to pin down the location for twelve Metas to go missing during the blackouts. Or I guess we should call them glitches because it’s not blacking out but it’s staying frozen on one screen. But that doesn’t matter. That still leaves four unaccounted for Metas or potential targets.”

“How did you determine that?” Len asked, hating himself for indulging. 

“Um. Felicity might have hacked the police database and looked for missing persons’ cases that were recent and looked for people that were last seen in those areas,” Barry said not looking at him. 

Len raised an eyebrow. “This include Clyde Mardon?” he asked. He logged onto his email and looked at the new message from Felicity, she worked fast.

“Yeah, Mark reported him missing over the weekend,” Barry said. His shoulders were slumped like he was defeated. 

“Then why are you still worried about this? The police have the information, I’m sure they’re working very hard to find them,” Len said. He moved the files to a separate folder and emailed it to his private email. 

“The Metas have been taken from all over the city. The only reason I made the connect is because I was… two of my friends were taken…” Barry shook his head and looked up at Len. “Clyde’s the first one to be taken from campus and he isn’t exactly known for sticking to a schedule. It’s likely the police haven’t even made the connection yet,” Barry said with a hint of desperation. 

“Oh? And how would you know that?” Len asked. He logged off his email and shut it down. Then he pulled up some homework he needed to finish. 

“Joe, my foster dad, he’s a cop and when I mentioned it he had no clue what I was talking about. He made some comment about they’re adults and they can make their own decisions. They didn’t have family in the area and I’m the one that reported them missing. There isn’t much to go on and they have bigger problems,” he explained. 

“So, you want to what? Play hero and rescue your friends from the evil?” Len asked. 

“I mean, I wasn’t going to play hero but, if I could at least find them.” He shook his head like he didn’t want to think of not finding them. “And if I get to play hero, as you put it, where’s the harm? As long as we find them.”

“Sorry, kid, not interested in being a hero, if Mardon’s been reported then it’s the police’s problem,” Len said, not entirely truthful. “Now if you’re done here I’ve got homework I want to work on. I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Len said icily. 

Barry looked like he was going to say more but another student came in and he shut his mouth. He got up without another word and left. Len slouched in his chair, finally he could focus on homework.

Except it was never that simple. He ended up pulling out his laptop and looking at the findings. There wasn’t a consistent day for the glitches but they all happened together, at the same time. It seemed Clyde had not been the one Oliver was following, that person was still at large. But there was a glitch near the building where Mardon lived. 

Felicity was able to track his movements until then, then nothing. No one coming or going. Nothing. He checked the other spots that Metas hadn’t been taken from. The docks caught his eye. It wasn’t technically on campus but it was close enough people considered it part of the college. 

But it wasn’t the port itself that caught his attention. It was a person, that briefly walked into the frame and then out of it. He looked like a normal dock employee if it weren’t for the time of night. But Len knew he wasn’t. He had stood by that man enough times, and against him even more. 

Roscoe Dillon, Rosa’s older brother and Lisa’s abusive ex. If he were creeping around it meant that his father was also around and he needed to not be. The docks were too close to campus for Len to consider it safe for Lisa. Lewis Snart caused them so much pain and suffering that when he could Len had taken Lisa and left. It was only after that that he’d gotten thrown off the force for being crooked. Too little, too late in his and Lisa’s opinions. He’d need to scope out the docks to find out what was going on.

Len went to class and waited through the boringness that it was. Luckily it was only once a week. He went home and Mick was there, but Lisa was not

“I’m going to investigate the docks. There was a glitch there and an old friend,” Len growled. 

“Who?” Mick was already getting out of his chair. He’d been itching for a fight since they confronted the Flash and it had only gotten worse when Len had been hurt. 

“Dillon, appears he’s out and showing his ugly mug around here. I’m just going to show up and scare him off, there’s not going to be a fight,” he said. He put his hand on Mick’s chest to stop him from charging out the door.

“Like hell you’re going alone!” Mick growled. 

“I can handle this, Lisa isn’t to know and if we’re both gone she’ll know something is up. It’s just Dillon, I can scare him off. And if it’s not just him I don’t want Lisa near him. You know she would insist on coming,” Len said. He grabbed his cold gun. Mick grunted at him and Len rolled his eyes. “Just in case. I’m not looking for a fight.” But Len sure as hell wasn’t going to turn one down. 

He walked the little bit to the docks without difficulty. Then he started sneaking around, staying to the shadows. There was nothing. He checked the glitched area and no one was there. He made his way to a few of the warehouses and none of them looked used. After a few hours of nothing he went back home.

And that’s how the next day went too, except he was able to avoid Barry. Lisa and Cisco got coffee, in the way Lisa got a coffee and Cisco got a coffee and left after Lisa kept glaring at him. And Len went through classes then checked the docks and warehouses. Tuesday night one of the warehouses looked like it had the makings of a safehouse in it but no one was around. 

Wednesday, however, things got interesting. Lisa didn’t glare at Cisco and they drank their coffees several tables away but there was no outward hostility. Len went through his classes and went out to the docks again. He was going to check every night until he found something. And that night he did. Only it was not at all what he wanted to find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tune in Saturday for the normal length update! Please comment and kudos!


	4. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Iris run into an old friend. Lisa and Mick make new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it's not Saturday... It's Sunday, technically. But like Saturday night. So I'm counting it as a win. Warning, there is sexual content at the end. There will be a warning in the endnotes. Also, I'm sorry if people seem out of character. They were raised differently and therefore are different.

Len could almost feel something was different when he headed for the docks, he tried to brush it off as paranoia but was if really paranoia if someone was after you? He shook his head and continued started his search. He’d made sure Lisa wasn’t around and Mick still volunteered to come with his but he was fine. 

He turned to check out the warehouses. He wanted to see if he was right about the safehouse when he saw Untouchable Iris West crouched under a window to the warehouse. She was wearing all black, much like him, and sensible shoes. And she had a camera and was taking pictures of the inside. 

Len sighed quietly and snuck up in front of her. He had a hand to her mouth before she could make a sound. He put a finger to his lips and let her mouth go. “Snart?” she whispered. “What are you doing here?” 

“I could ask you the same, Miss West,” Len drawled quietly. “But you should be going. No need to put yourself in danger for a story. It’s dangerous around here, haven’t you heard people are disappearing?” Len had no doubt she was doing this for her blog and not the paper. 

She shook her head. “There are people in there. And they are not workers.” She held up her phone to him and he almost rolled his eyes but when he saw the picture he knew what she meant. There were six people in there in total. Roscoe and a few of his old crew, no Lewis, and Len thanked whatever god was out there for that. But two out of the six were tied up and on the floor in the corner. “They could be connected to the disappearances.”

“Then call the police,” Len said. He glanced in the window to see them for himself. He didn’t see Roscoe or another guy and had a bad feeling. “Let them handle this.” 

“Dad insists there isn’t enough to go on. But if I get proof then Dad’ll have to believe me and do something about it,” she said. She peaked over into the warehouse with him and started snapping pictures.

“Why do you even care about the Metas, did the Flash put you up to this?” Len asked. He wouldn’t be surprised. Flash believed his reputation alone would be enough to protect Iris or any of his friends.

She didn’t get the chance to respond when Len felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the back of his head. “Now, now, none of that,” Roscoe said quietly. Before Iris could move another man came up and clocked her with the butt of his gun. She crumpled and without thinking Len caught her, phone falling to the ground. The hammer on the gun clicked, but he scooped Miss West into his arms. 

“We were just leaving,” Len said. He turned to glare at Roscoe but kept Iris in front of him. 

“No, I don’t think you were. Let’s go inside Snart. Catch up a little.” Len felt the other man’s gun press against his back. He let the irritation show on his face but walked with them into the safehouse. 

The other guys quickly came over and forced him on to his knees, he tried not to jostle Iris too much. But one of the guys tried to take her. He smashed his head into the guy’s nose. The guy stumbled back and swore which earned Len a smack across the face with Roscoe’s gun. He felt his cheek split open. “None of that, Snart.” 

But he didn’t come closer. Len put Iris on the ground as gently as he could then put his hands up. They were forced into cuffs behind his back then they cuffed his ankles together then they attached his ankles to his wrists, keeping him on his knees. Iris was cuffed with her hands in front of her, gentler than he was. 

Only when he was successfully cuffed did the others come near him. He couldn’t help the smirk that slid into place. “It seems my reputation precedes me,” he mused with a glance around the room. The other two were cuffed much in the same was Len was and one had a blindfold on. 

As if to prove they weren’t afraid of him two of the guys grabbed him and held him up. Roscoe slammed his fist into Len’s stomach and they let him drop a couple of feet to the side. He took a minute breath then wriggled back off his side and onto his knees. 

“What’s going on here, Roscoe? Didn’t know you were into human trafficking,” Len drawled as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He kept the smirk on his face. 

“Well, if the pay check is big enough, I’ll take anything. Thought you knew that,” he said. He grinned back down at Len and Len’s expression shifted to a sneer. He had morals, Roscoe and his father did not. “But you’re just a bonus. I only needed those two. So this is all pleasure, no business, what’re you doing around here, Snart?” He leaned against a table and rested the gun on his thigh, as if that would intimate him.

“I enjoy the water, decided to go on a stroll,” Len said calmly. 

“Right, a stroll with whatever this thing is,” Roscoe said. He held up the cold gun and Len had to remind himself not to tense. 

“Yup,” he said, popping the p. 

“You see, what I would’ve thought you were doing is meeting some bitch down by the docks so her boyfriend doesn’t get mad,” Roscoe said. “But then I see she’s taking pictures. You turn into a rat, Snart?” 

Len forced himself not to react, anything he did would be reported straight back to Lewis. Luckily Miss West choose that moment to regain consciousness. “Who you callin’ a bitch, dick,” she groaned. And Len had to give it to her, she had guts, even if it was a bad time.

“Well good morning beautiful,” Roscoe said setting the cold gun down and phone down. “Thought they clocked you too hard.” 

“Nope, it takes more than that to take me out.” She sat up and hissed in pain. She glanced at Len and then back at Roscoe. Len could see a bit of blood on her temple.

“Good, I like ‘em feisty,” Roscoe growled. He grabbed Iris’s jaw and turned her head side to side, inspecting her. She jerked but couldn’t break his hold.

Len watched Iris swallow. “Wonderful, except you can’t handle feisty,” he taunted. Quickly he started working on the cuffs. Lewis hadn’t changed the cuffs they used. He could get out of them in his sleep. 

“What was that Snart?” he asked coming closer. Good, he was no longer focused on Iris. 

“You can’t handle feisty,” Len repeated. “By the way, did it scar? I bet it scarred.” Bad, he was now focused on a very tied up Len. Without anything to aid in unlocking the cuffs it would take longer, not by much but enough there would be a difference. “In fact, I thought you’d be out of commission for another month at least. I mean it wasn’t that deep, but you never did like pain.” 

He expected the punch, it still hurt but he knew it was coming. “Shoulder’s all healed. But don’t you worry, I’ll give Lisa a matching one. And I like you so much, Snart I’ll give you two,” he sneered. 

“Sure, you will. Lisa’s not even in the city, so good luck with that one,” Len said his voice even. He leveled his gaze at Roscoe again. The second and third hits made looking up at him hurt and his cheek was bleeding steadily. 

“You should know not to lie, wonder what Lewis would think if he heard your lies,” Roscoe taunted. 

Len tensed and bared his teeth. “I’m sure he’ll let you know when you run back to him like the little bitch you are,” he snarled. He’d almost finished with the locks.

Roscoe grabbed him by the labels of his jacket, lifted him off the ground. “I’m sure he’ll let us both know, then we can all go get Lisa and-” Len didn’t let him finish the thought. 

He slammed his forehead into Roscoe’s nose with a crunch. Len hoped it was broken. The other cursed and stumbled back. Len brought his now freed hand around slammed it into Roscoe’s cheek. The other man fell to the ground and Len launched himself to the table and his gun.

Roscoe grabbed him and slammed him to ground. Len hit hard and Roscoe kicked out, slamming into his ribs. Len’s breath left him in a whoosh, but he didn’t hear a crack, it was the small mercies. Roscoe used that moment to pull out his knife. “Or I’m sure he’ll be fine with just Lisa,” he growled and pounced on Len. He forced the knife down at Len’s exposed throat. It was all he could do to through his arms up to block the knife. He felt it bite into his arm but he stopped it from coming down.

Roscoe didn’t let up, putting all his weight onto it. It was getting much to close for comfort. He had no idea what was going on with the others until the weight of Roscoe was knocked to the side. Above his body was Miss West holding the cold gun, looking ready to swing again if Roscoe got up. He didn’t.

“Thanks,” he managed. She set the gun down and held out her hand, well both of them since they were still cuffed but Len took it and she helped him up. His arm was bleeding steadily and he didn’t know if it would need stitches, he could deal with that later.

“Who’s that?” she asked, indicating to Roscoe. 

“Lisa’s abusive ex,” Len said. He picked up the cold gun and pointed it at Roscoe. It whirled to life. 

“Woah, no, no, don’t do that,” Iris said putting her hand on the gun, but making no move to take it. “We’ll call the cops, they can handle him, like you wanted.” 

“Not a big fan of cops, I just didn’t want the hassle of dealing with them. But that ship has sailed,” Len said, not lowering the gun for a moment.

“We’ll my dad’s a cop. So, deal with it,” she said in a hard voice. Len sighed and lowered the gun, he set it back down. Then he grabbed her phone and held it out to her. “Thanks, hate to go through all this then have nothing to show for it.” She took it with a grateful smile. 

One of the bodies groaned. Actually, the only body left. It seemed Roscoe’s buddies took the other guy and ran. Iris’s eyes widened and she rushed over to him. “Snart, where’s the other guy?” Iris asked scanning the area. 

Len just sighed and grabbed the keys out of Roscoe’s pockets. He undid his ankles, gave a swift kick to Roscoe, then walked over to her. “I don’t see him.” Len unlocked the guy’s cuffs, they were different than the kind he and Iris wore, Len had never seen that kind, then handed the keys to Iris.

She undid the cuffs with such proficiency that Len would put money on her being able to get out of them without it. Not that he brought this up as she gently shook the man. “Hey, hey wake up,” Iris said quietly. 

The guy’s eyes opened slowly and he looked away. “Please don’t hurt me,” he said in a rough voice. He briefly jerked away. 

“Hey, woah, don’t worry, you’re safe,” Iris said. “Do you have a name?” 

“Yeah, I’m Hunter,” he said. He finally looked up at both of them. “Thank you.”

“Why are you here Hunter?” Len asked, ice in voice. 

The man didn’t look affected by it. “I don’t know. I was walking back to my apartment and I got jumped. Woke up here with that other guy. He was not happy and blasted them with beams from his eyes, then they knocked him out and blindfolded him. Then they knocked me out. Now we’re here,” he explained. 

She glared at Len for a moment. “I’m Iris. Are you a Meta?” Iris asked. 

“No, Human. I don’t know why I’m here. Are you Metas?” he asked. His eyes flicked between the two of them, something unreadable in his eyes.

“No, Humans,” Iris said. Hunter relaxed a bit at that.

“But their grudge was a bit more personal with me than you,” Len mused. “So, I’ve not the foggiest idea why they would want you, care to enlighten us?” 

“Yeah, what was that about?” Iris asked. She looked at both of them. She looked like this would be the next big story, Len was not going to have that. 

He bristled. “It’s not important. Hunter?” he deflected. 

“Like I said, I was walking home and they jumped me. I’ve never seen them before,” Hunter said, mostly to Iris.

Len made a noncommittal noise and glanced back at Roscoe, or where Roscoe was supposed to be. “Damn it!” he growled. Roscoe was gone. 

“We’ll let the police know, they’ll catch him,” Iris said. She stood up and put her hand on his arm. 

He moved away from her. “Fine, but you’ll be telling this to the cops yourself. I’m out,” Len said. He collected the keys, restraints, and his cold gun. It was better for him to have them then his father or Roscoe, or even the police to have them. He headed to the exit without another word. 

“Don’t I even get to know the name of my savior?” Hunter called after him.

“No,” Len called back without looking back. He was no savior, the only reason he’d saved either of them was because it also saved himself. And now that he had focused on Hunter waking up Roscoe was out there and probably heading back to Lewis as he walked. He needed to warn Lisa. 

Len heard a noise off to his side as he walked the docks back towards campus. He ducked behind some crates and peered over. There was a small group of men in uniforms collaring and cuffing someone. Len would bet money it was the Meta from before, especially when he saw General Eiling. He stayed out of sight, no need to alert them.

But then he thought of Iris and Hunter. That was the most direct way to campus, so it was likely she would come that way. It didn’t sit well with him that they might come across the General and gang. He couldn’t let more people get involved, or taken he thought briefly, so he hurried back to the warehouse. “We gotta go,” he said as he rushed back in. 

“Snart what the hell?” Iris asked. He took her and Hunter each by an arm and pulled them towards the other way. “Let me go,” she hissed. 

“No can do, Miss West. There are some shady guys out that way and I don’t know about you but I’ve been kidnapped enough for one night,” he mused, dry humor in his voice. 

Her eyes widened but she stopped struggling. They quietly and quickly made their way to the other side of the warehouse then out of the docks completely. It wasn’t until they were at least a block away Iris spoke. “Where do you live?” She looked at Hunter. 

“I’m just a few blocks this way. I can make it,” Hunter said. They stopped and he looked ready to leave by himself.

“You’re right you can make it, with us,” Iris said. “You’re not going anywhere alone, not tonight.” Len held back a groan. There was no way he could let Iris go with this strange man, and then let her walk home alone. The Flash would kill him if something would happen. In fact, he was probably already a dead man.

“Really? Thank you,” Hunter said. He seemed surprised. Len didn’t comment. They headed off to his apartment. It was about ten minutes of walking in semi-awkward silence before they reached his building. Iris insisted on going up with him so Len followed in annoyance. 

“I’ll talk to my dad. The police might have questions for you. Sorry all of this happened, have a good night,” Iris said when they were at him door. 

“Of course, I don’t know much but I’ll do what I can,” Hunter assured. “Good night, and thank you, to both of you, get home safely.” Len nodded and Iris smiled. Hunter shut the door and they started out the building and to campus. Len had his cold gun ready. 

“Okay, spill, what was that? I didn’t ask while Hunter was around because you would have frozen him out. But you owe me an explanation,” Iris asked after about five minutes, which was longer than Len thought she would last. 

“No can do, sorry Miss West,” Len cut off. 

“You got me kidnapped, you owe me an explanation,” Iris pressed. 

Len actually laughed at that. “I’m pretty sure you were going to get kidnapped with, or without me. I was just there to get you unkidnapped. And besides, I got the worst of it. It wasn’t even that bad of a kidnapping for you.” Len was going for humor but he would bet he missed it when Iris’s eyes flashed to his face then to the ground.

“Thank you… by the way. For distracting him, from me, I mean,” she said quieter this time. “You didn’t, I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“Don’t mention it,” Len said with a shake of his head. “Seriously. Don’t. Don’t mention this. I don’t need people to talk.” He was already going to have a hard time explaining the bruises and cuts to his face and arm without the added pressure of people wanting to know why he did it for Untouchable Iris.

“You don’t want them to talk? And say what, you’re a hero?” Iris asked with a laugh. “I know the people you hang out with, Snart, they aren’t all super bad tough guys. Would it really be so bad if people thought you weren’t a super bad tough guy?”

“Yes,” Len deadpanned. 

Iris looked at him curiously. “Why?” Len didn’t respond. “Because you have a reputation as being cold and distant and heartless?” she posed it as a question. Because like I said, I’ve seen your friends and while kinda rough around the edges they aren’t bad. And besides, you saved me and Hunter, that is something heroic.”

“I’m asking you here and now Miss West, don’t mention it. If you must tell people that you were taken, and if you must mention that I was with you then I’m asking you to leave out the part where I saved you by attacking Roscoe. Take the glory, you clocked him good,” Len said. His lips turned up slightly towards the end, then he schooled his face again. “But even then I wouldn’t go spreading that around.”

“Fine, but only if you tell me why, otherwise I’ll shout to the rooftops that Leonard Snart saved me,” Iris countered, loud enough to prove she was serious.

“Fine. As you could tell we have history. It would put my sister in a lot of danger if it got out I was beating up mobsters, and he is mob. Low level so you should be fine but if you start bragging the wrong person hears it is going to go poorly quickly. So, I’ll ask you again. Don’t mention that part,” Len said seriously. He was going to have enough to deal with when Roscoe ran off to tell Lewis, that wasn’t even including if this had been a Family thing.

Iris’s eyes widened. “Oh, okay. I… I won’t say anything. I’ll only tell my dad and Barry that you were there. This doesn’t need to get out yet.” 

“Thank you,” Len said. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “The Flash didn’t know you were here, huh?” Len raised an eyebrow at her. 

Iris laughed. “No, no he doesn’t. Barry would never let me put myself in danger like that. He would have been here with me, or probably instead of me.” Len nodded. Iris grabbed his arm and stopped him. “I’m sorry about Barry. Please just let me speak. Lisa and Mick were quite vocal with their displeasure about what Barry did to you but you haven’t mentioned it. And Barry said you blew him off.” 

“Miss West, I’m going to stop you there. The Flash messed up, I know that, you know that, he knows that. I just want to focus on school, and graduate. I’m not backing out of our deal but I don’t need extra involvement with Flash and friends,” Len said clearly. 

“What did you want to talk to him about?” Iris asked. 

“He didn’t tell you? Doesn’t surprise me. It was about the disappearing Metas, pull our resources and figure it out. He did inform me the police don’t think anything is going on, and one of my friends disappeared, so I thought it would work. But he made it clear he didn’t want to work together, so I’m over it,” Len explained. 

“Would you still want to work together?” Iris asked excitedly. 

“What part of I’m over it did you not understand?” he asked and rolled his eyes. 

“Fine, but if you change your mind, here.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. It had her phone number, blog name and link, and email. “Call me. Or email me what you find. I can email you what I find. Felicity and I are coordinating.” 

“She did send me what she had,” Len said somewhat hesitantly. Iris’s eyes shone with a fierceness Len didn’t see often and he had no doubt she was now counting him among her resources to figure this out. 

She grinned and started walking again. Len sighed and followed her. This was not how he wanted to spend his night. He dropped West off at her dorm and then headed back to his apartment. 

He gently washed his face and put a butterfly band aid on his cheek, he’d have Shawna look at it later. Then he peeled out of his now bloody clothes and wrapped his arm, it would probably need stiches. Then he flopped on his bed. He was out the moment his head hit the pillow. 

The next morning Lisa was of course already gone when Len woke up. He’d need to tell her about last night. It was too dangerous for her not to know anything, but it wasn’t really something he could say over text. So instead he texted Hartley about the gold gun and told him to hurry it up and talk to Lisa about it. 

When Len looked in the mirror he winced. His lip was busted, his cheek was split, and both his eyes were black. When he went to touch his face, he noticed his wrists were only lightly bruised, and it was the small mercies that he didn’t struggle to hard to bruise them more. He’d seek out Shawna about his arm later. 

There was no covering it so he just hoped he avoided anyone he knew. He made it to class without anyone seeing him but he was not so lucky heading to lunch. 

“You look like shit,” Ava said. Neither Sara nor Rip was with her. 

“Thanks,” he grumbled. Out of everyone this was probably best-case scenario of someone seeing him. But that would mean she’ll tell Sara and he’ll have to deal with that later. 

“What happened?” she asked, falling into step with him. 

“Rough night. Ran into an old friend,” he said. Ava didn’t know much about his criminal past. And honestly not a lot of people did. Mick and Lisa did, obviously, but mostly because it was also their past. And then Sara knew because she’d been in a tight spot when they’d met and were able to get out of it together. After that a lot of questions needed to be answered so that happened. And now Barry, and maybe Cisco. But it seemed Barry only knew about what was on file. There was no way he knew about the stuff he didn’t get caught for and that gave Len a little hope. 

“Bummer,” she said with only a hint of sympathy. He didn’t know much about her but Len knew when someone could relate. 

They walked in comfortable silence to get food. He wasn’t meeting Lisa, Hartley had messaged him saying he was going to see her during lunch and he didn’t need to be there when she found out he and Mick already had their guns. But he did see her heading to the coffee shop. She looked like a woman on a mission and that had to mean class did not go well. 

And Lisa was on a mission. Class had basically been nonstop criticism. And although some criticism is good there was nothing fun about hearing how the paper in that class were horrible and they should be ashamed. So, she scheduled meetings with everyone that day and one on one hadn’t been any better.

So now she was late for her coffee fix. Which also probably meant Cisco was gone. Not that she cared of course. She had glared at him all of Tuesday but it still took him time to leave, maybe because there was no real heat behind it. Cisco was a good guy and Lisa enjoyed his presence. 

Wednesday he smiled at her while they got coffees and even said hey. She’d smiled and they drank their coffees a few tables apart. But she caught him sneaking glances at her as they sat there. He was not good at being sneaky. 

But now he was probably not going to be there, or be leaving and she was just going to be in a pissy mood. Kendra was working the stand. Lisa tried to smile but Kendra just nodded. “I feel that. Your usual?” she asked. 

“Yes please,” Lisa said with a relieved smile. She got out her wallet but Kendra shook her head. 

“Since you weren’t here, cutie pie, over there paid for your drink,” Kendra said. She nodded her head to Cisco in the corner. Obvious as he played on his phone.

Lisa couldn’t help the smile that broke out on her face. “Thanks.” She took the coffee and slinked up to Cisco. He didn’t look up until she sat her coffee on the table. She wouldn’t admit how cute it was that he yelped and jerked with his phone. 

“Lisa, hi, I didn’t see you,” Cisco said, smooth as gravel like always. 

“Hey, thanks for the coffee. But you didn’t need to get this for me,” Lisa said. After a moment’s hesitation, she sat down across from him. “Let me pay you back.” Lenny’s number one rule was never owe anyone anything. Well maybe number two because number one would be no matter what they could rely and trust each other. 

“I know. But I was an ass about Barry and with Dibney and since you weren’t here at your normal time I figured something was up so I wanted to do something nice for you. There, there’s no need for repayment. This is just something nice,” Cisco rambled just a little. 

Lisa was honestly touched. No one, except Mick and Len and they didn’t count, ever did anything like that. “Oh,” she said in a quiet voice. “Thanks.” The smile that broke out on his face was so wide and infectious that she could feel herself smiling despite it. 

“So, what are you studying?” Cisco asked. The smile didn’t leave his face. 

“What, didn’t look up my file to?” Lisa asked. It was just a little too pointed to have been a simple tease.

Cisco’s smiled faltered. “Listen, Snart has a reputation of never going or doing anything without a plan. We didn’t want Barry to be caught off guard but.” Cisco paused to sip his coffee with just a little too much enthusiasm. “We went too far. I didn’t hack his juvie records or anything but when we saw he had a criminal record we, er, mostly Barry, but we took a look. Do you know what he did?” Cisco asked. 

Of course she did. He’d hidden it when they were younger. She’d only been eight when Lenny started selling himself but she knew about the jobs he and their dad would pull and it wasn’t like Lewis let Lenny keep his cut. She only learned about the prostitution when she was fifteen and Lenny had bitten off more than he could chew and come back battered and bloody. She and Mick, who she didn’t hesitate to call even while Lenny was saying not to, got him to a hospital and he was fine. But she made them come clean that night. 

“I know what he had to do to make sure we both survived. And survival’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said evenly. She didn’t break eye contact with him as she spoke but he looked away from her. She wasn’t sure if the blush creeping onto his darker skin was embarrassment or shame.

After a moment, he finally looked up again. “I’m sorry. We were out of line.” 

“You were. But it’s in the past. To answer your question I’m prelaw,” she said with a shrug. 

“That’s so awesome! Gonna be some badass lawyer takin’ down the bad guys?” Cisco said excitedly. 

Lisa couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. It was not the reaction she typically got but then again Cisco wasn’t someone she normally hung out with. “Something like that,” she said still laughing. He didn’t need to know the details, she was going to be badass. 

After that the tension drained from them a little and they went back and forth on lighter topics. She ended up inviting him to have lunch with her when his stomach growled and they couldn’t keep pretending to drink the coffees they had both finished. 

Cisco hesitantly agreed and they headed towards the mess hall. Everything was going good until Cisco stiffened at “Ramon.”

“Rathaway,” Cisco turned to face Hartley and Lisa sighed and turned as well. “What do you want?” 

“Nothing from you Cisquito, Lisa and I were going to get lunch though,” Hartley answered with a smiled to Lisa. 

“Well, Lisa just invited me to have lunch with you so I’ll guess she’ll need to rain check you on that,” Cisco said. Lisa noted the way he stood up straighter. 

“Aw, come on boys, let’s all have lunch. This little rivalry shouldn’t get in the way of food after all,” she teased. She didn’t give them a chance to argue because she grabbed them each by the arm and tugged them to the mess hall. She almost giggled at their glares. 

She was almost full on laughing when they finally sat down with their food. She wasn’t sure how they’d made getting lunch a competition but somehow, they had. Now they were sitting at a round table with Cisco and Hartley across the table, glaring at each other, and her next to them. 

She knew they were in the same program do to how often Hartley would complain to her. And it was quite often, he didn’t make friends well. She also knew that they idealized Professor Harry Wells. So, she asked about classes, a neutral topic in her opinion. It was not. 

Cisco started off about something and it only took a minute for Hartley to cut in. Cisco would glare and then go on. After about five minutes it became a back and forth almost discussion. Almost. It was more like they were talking out some sort of project than actually fighting about it. One of them would say something then the other would say the flaws of that idea then suggest something else. 

Lisa couldn’t help but watch in amusement. They were more alike than they wanted to admit and that might’ve just been the problem. Finally Cisco checked his phone. “Shit, I’ve got class. Bye Lisa, thanks for inviting me to lunch,” he said with a smile. 

“Of course. This was fun,” Lisa said still holding back her laughter. 

“Hartley,” Cisco deadpanned as he left, but there didn’t seem to be as much heat in it.

“Bye Cisquito,” Hartley teased. Cisco rolled his eyes and walked off. Once he was gone Lisa raised an eyebrow to Hartley. “What?” he demanded. 

Lisa burst out laughing. “I thought you said you guys didn’t get along?” she said through her laughter. 

“We don’t. We just spent all of lunch arguing. What are you talking about?” Hartley asked in confusion. 

“You argued for all of five minutes then you started actually discussing things with insults thrown in. Am I wrong, or did you two just decide to do a final project together?” Lisa asked. 

“Okay, you’re not technically wrong. Professor Wells is making it not be a solo final and although Ramon is the worst he actually is the only one in that class that even comes close to my intellect. I was going to ask Wells to do the project alone but he would’ve just paired me off. At least this way I’m not working with total incompetence,” Hartley huffed. 

It was still early in the school year but from what she knew of Wells he assigned the final the first day and expected nothing less than perfection. At least that’s what Hartley had said. “Well, good then. Now what did you need to talk about?” 

“Have you seen Snart today?” Hartley asked. 

Lisa blinked at him for a moment before she answered. “No, he was out late and I left early. He told me he needed to talk tonight though. What’s wrong?” she lowered her voice as she spoke. 

“I don’t know the details I just know that I’m getting you your gold gun within the next twenty-four hours of Len’s gonna have my head,” Hartley said, only half joking. 

A huge smile broke out on Lisa’s face. “Yes, oh my god I’m so ready. Girl’s gotta have a little protection in this town.” 

Hartley smiled. “And you know it won’t be actual gold, right?” 

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Of course, I said something like gold, not that it had to actually be gold. Besides, I’ll just call it a golden gun instead of a gold gun.” 

“Good,” Hartley said. Then he launched into an explanation of how it would work. Most of it was lost on her but she was happy he was filling her in. She peaked down at her phone during the explanation and saw Lenny had sent a message to the group chat with her and Mick about dinner. Mick said he wouldn’t be back until after his late class. Lenny replied saying he’d make a big dinner.

Mick grunted at the message but didn’t reply. He was in class but he was only half paying attention. Nate was taking notes for the both of them. Mick hadn’t asked him to do that but he wasn’t going to turn down someone doing his work for him. 

They went to the library after class before practice. Nate was rattling on about some history thing and he was on his second red bull since the start of class. He and Jax had a bet going about how long until his heart gave out. Ray thought it was morbid but got in on the action. 

Practice went well, they were getting better, but they weren’t anywhere near good. Mick was sore but in a good way and he was the last one out of the showers. Len had mentioned his father in an earlier text directly to him and Mick knew there was going to be trouble. That was what he wanted to talk about, no doubt. 

Mick turned off the water and went to put on clothes. “Well that’s an interesting sight,” a particularly cold voice said. Mick turned partially and saw Killer Frost standing in the doorway. 

“What do you want?” Mick grunted. He pulled on some boxers before turning to face her. 

“No idea,” she said with a shrug. She pushed of the wall and strolled closer to Mick. “Caity was the one that was coming down here. I was already in the building; thought I might as well look around. Didn’t realize I’d be getting a show,” she hummed in appreciation. She got even closer. 

Mick pulled on a shirt, ignoring her. “I’m too hot for you to handle, Frosty, back up.”

She laughed. “That so? Maybe I like a little heat?” she purred and in his space. Mick just raised an eyebrow. “Come on, you don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend, do you?” She took Mick’s silence for the no it was. “Then what’s wrong with making a little steam?” 

Mick didn’t answer, mainly because he couldn’t. Killer Frost surged forward and slammed her lips onto his. The momentum knocked him back against the lockers. She was cold but not like burn you or freeze you solid cold but Mick didn’t have time to think about that. Her hand grabbed his wrist and put it on her crotch. 

She broke apart long enough to say, “Make me come and I’ll blow you.” Before she palmed his dick and sucking on his neck. Mick groaned and moved his hand to slip it in her panties. Her moan was all he needed to continue. 

He slipped his fingers into and she made a noise halfway between a moan and a growl. He didn’t waste time in slipping two. He started in and out gently until she growled, “Harder, use your thumb to get my clit, yes right like that.” 

It was difficult. Two fingers pushing in and out while his thumb rubbed circles around her clit. She moaned into his neck and bit him. Mick groaned and shoved his fingers in deeper. “Yes, like that.” Her breath was cold but not like burning cold. 

He kept working her, her moans kept getting louder. “Someone’s gonna hear ya, Frosty,” he growled. 

“Building’s empty,” she purred. “If not, they get a show,” the last word turned into a moan. 

Mick ended up with three fingers in her and his thumb still working by the time she finally came and he was rock hard. She came with a small shout and the tips of her fingers burned his shoulders where she was clutching him. 

After a few moments of heavy breathing she looked up with a wicked smirk. “Been a while since I’ve had any fun. Or Caity for that matter.” She trailed her hand down her chest and grabbed his hand. She brought it to her own lips and licked it. “I believe I owe you?” she said. She licked his hand one more time then dropped to her knees, not breaking eye contact.

She pulled down his underwear and hummed in appreciation. With little delay, she licked a strip from the base to the tip then put her mouth around it. She sucked on it gently at first, not going very deep. 

Mick half moaned, half growled and fell back against the lockers. He could feel her smile and suddenly she was taking him most of the way. Mick was proportional in both length and girth so he was impressed. His hand went to her hair without meaning to. But she moaned when Mick tugged on it. 

He wasn’t going to last long. She brought her hand up to fondle his balls and that was all it took. “I’m gonna come,” he panted. She didn’t pull off. In fact, she sucked harder. And with a final suck Mick was coming. She swallowed what she could and pulled off him with a wet pop. 

Killer Frost wiped the corners of her mouth with her thumb and finger then stood up. She held them up to Mick’s mouth. He was almost too out of it to respond but he parted his lips for her and she put her thumb in first, then her finger, forcing him to taste himself. 

She kissed him, he could taste everything and he was surprisingly okay with that. “Come find me if you ever need to chill out,” she murmured against his ear. Giving it one lick she turned on her heel and sauntered out as if she didn’t have a care in the world. 

Mick on the other hand was still trying to process this. He was pretty sure that violated Snart’s warning to stay away from Metas. Mick couldn’t bring himself to care. It wasn’t like Len would know. He hurried to get dressed then hurried to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexual content: Killer Frost walks into the locker room while Mick is naked. He ends up giving her a hand job and she gives him a blow job. 
> 
> Alright guys the plot thickens. I know it's slow going but it will eventually pick up. Please bear with me. Thank you for reading! Comment and Kudos! See you next weekend!


	5. Team Player?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len isn't really a team player but everyone seems to think he is, even when he really doesn't want them to. Lisa is totally a team player. And Mick is in a totally different game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays and Happy New Years!! I'm on a roll, sticking to my schedule.

Mick arrived last but Len had expected that. “What happened to your face?” Mick asked with his usual tact. He put down his stuff and joined them at the table. They had just started eating.

“Ran into our old friend Roscoe.” Lisa froze mid-bite. “Guess what that means.”

“Dad’s out,” Lisa growled putting her fork down with much more force than was necessary. 

“Bingo. And he’s got a crew. Not likely a large one but enough to cause trouble for us if they come sniffing around.” None of them were eating now. “Did Hart tell ya about your gun?”

“Yup, and now I know why you wanted him to get it done so quickly. He said he’ll have it to me tomorrow. There were a few tweaks he had to make to it tonight.” She shook her head. “How’d he even get the drop on you, Lenny?” 

“I was practicing with my gun and it makes more noise than I thought,” he lied. “He hit me over the head and threatened me than you. Luckily, he’s an idiot, but I don’t want you going out alone at night for the time being. Take Mick or I if you’re going to go out. Or if you’re studying with Laurel have Sara and Ava with you. I pity the fool who tries to take on those three separately but together they’re unstoppable.” Len shook his head. “Or hell, much as I hate the guy, take Oliver. Just don’t be alone.” 

For once Lisa didn’t argue. “I’ll talk to Laurel and see if Felicity and Oliver will join us for studying. You’ll text Sara?” 

“Of course,” Len assured. “Mick will you be okay?” He hadn’t said much during the meal which wasn’t unusual but Len still wanted to make sure. 

“Yeah, Dillon knows better than to come after me,” Mick nearly growled. 

“Good. For now, let’s not focus on it. We can stay inside and watch a movie before bed,” Len said. He began to eat again and he hoped the others would follow suit. 

“Wait, Lenny, you have to work tomorrow. What’s to stop him from trying again?” Lisa asked. 

Len paused in his bite before chewing carefully. “I’ll go straight there and straight back. My gun won’t be on and I’ll be on the alert. He won’t get the drop on me again,” Len swore.

Lisa didn’t look happy but they finished the meal in a tense silence then put on a cheesy horror movie they could laugh at. 

He sent a quick text to Sara. ‘Dad’s out, keep an eye on Lisa.’ The reply was almost immediate. ‘Well Ava’s been saying I need to study more.’ Len rolled his eyes but sent a quick ‘thanks,’ and focused on the movie. He had to stop himself from itching the stitches. He’d seen Shawna and told her briefly what happened then made her swear not to tell Lisa. There was no need in worrying her more. He would just wear long sleeves for the time being. 

They went to bed later than they should’ve considering Len and Mick both had things to do the next day but they hadn’t wanted to separate until later. When Lisa woke up both the boys were gone but that didn’t surprise her. She checked her phone and sure enough, both of them had messaged in the group chat what time they left and when they planned to be back. She knew the drill, ten minutes after the scheduled time with no warning then they could start panicking. 

She got dressed and did the same. She got a reply from Len almost immediately but she knew Mick wouldn’t check his phone until later. She also had a text from Sara saying she and Ava would be joining their study group tonight. Lisa smiled and headed out to get her coffee. 

Fridays were busier than most days, which seemed odd considering there were fewer classes but Lisa wasn’t too worried. Both Carter and Kendra were working so she wouldn’t have to wait too long. She sent a text to Hartley to see if her gun was done. 

Before she could get her coffee, she saw the best and worst person to see at that moment. Rosa Dillon was making her way out of the bathroom. Lisa didn’t waste a moment to slink over there and shove her back into the bathroom. She stumbled back and Lisa easily sidestepped the punch aimed at her face. 

“Well, Lisa, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Rosa snarled. She straightened up and glared at Lisa. 

Lisa leaned against the wall, unconcerned. “Heard your brother was out of the clink.” The way Rosa’s eyes widened said she hadn’t known that, but Lisa continued. “Thought I’d give you a heads up that if he comes after me or Leonard then anything that happens to him is on him. Not us.”

“I’ll let him know, but you know we’re not close. So, forgive me if he doesn’t get the message, you have to do what you have to,” she said with much too innocent a smile. 

Lisa’s smile was sharp enough to cut. “Good to know you understand. Be seeing you, Dillon.” Lisa headed back out to get her coffee. 

“See ya around Snart,” Rosa said going the opposite way. 

Lisa checked her phone. Hartley had replied. She grabbed her coffee and headed to S.T.A.R Labs. The building had been donated on the condition the Harrison Wells got to run it and teach his classes in there. The university was more than happy to oblige him. 

Even with Hartley’s directions, she got lost. It took her ten minutes to find the main entrance and another seven to locate the elevator. One of the perks of being there on the Wells Scholarship meant there were three whole sub-level floors dedicated to those students. And because of their close work with Dr. Wells on whatever his current project was Cisco and Hartley got a floor separate to those three all to themselves. 

“Lisa, so glad you could make it,” Hartley said as she walked into the main hub of the floor. 

“This place is like a maze,” she muttered. She took a sip of her coffee and leveled her gaze at him. “So, where’s my pretty gun?” 

“Right this way. I figured meeting you in here would be easier than telling you to come to the testing room,” Hartley explained as they walked. 

“Yeah, I would have just gotten lost and called you,” Lisa mused as they made their way through the twists and turns. 

“Fair.” They arrived at a door that looked the same as all the others except it had a sign that read, “If the Light is Red Testing is in Progress.” He pushed open the door and Lisa followed him in. “The docks would have been better but they seem to no longer be safe. So, we can test it here. The lowest setting creates a shell around the object that is breathable for a short period of time and the highest setting coats the object in molten gold that hardens almost immediately.” 

“Perfect.” She picked up the weapon and pointed it at him. 

He yelped and ducked to the side. “What is with you Snarts pointing my weapons at me?” 

Lisa just laughed and lowered the weapon. “Tell me you have something for me to test it on.”

“Of course, don’t insult me like that. Over at the range, I’ve already set up targets. Also, take the goggles,” Hartley said, handing them over to her. 

She grinned like a madwoman and took the goggles. She successfully hit two out of the three mannequins set up. And she only missed the last one because the door opened and Cisco walked in. 

“Hey, Rathaway you in- Lisa?” Cisco yelped. He froze in the doorway. 

“No, I am not in Lisa,” Hartley answered smoothly. This earned him a glare from Cisco and a laugh from Lisa. “What do you want Ramon we weren’t supposed to meet for another hour.”

“I came to get some designing done early and I saw you were in here. Why are those mannequins golden?” he suddenly asked. 

“That’s none of your concern Ramon,” Hartley said. He stepped in front of Lisa to partially obscure her from view.

“Uh, yeah I think it is! Those are my mannequins!” Cisco got in Hartley’s face. 

“Boys, boys, it’s no big deal,” Lisa said pushing them apart. “I’m going to let you get on with your designing.” 

“That’s the gold gun!” Cisco shouted. He rushed over to where Lisa sat it but she was faster. “You said those were theoretical!” He turned on Hartley. 

“And at the time they were,” he mused. 

“You can’t have that, and you can’t make weapons. Oh boy, I’m gonna tell Dr. Wells and he’ll finally throw you out of the program and off the scholarship. Did you make the other two, too?” Cisco asked. He was backing up slowly towards the door, but he looked ready to bolt. 

“No, he didn’t,” Lisa said. She took a step forward. “Cisco, I asked him to make it. He was giving me options with the other two. Sweetie,” she paused, then sighed, “my abusive ex just got out of jail. He was beating on me and I stabbed him in the shoulder. That bought me enough time to get away and get to Lenny, we called the cops and he vowed revenge. I panicked. This won’t kill him, I just needed a way to trap him if he came over for me.” Lisa was shaking by the time she got finished with the story. She gripped the gun tighter to hide it.

She hadn’t meant for all that to come out. But she also didn’t want Hartley to get in trouble for making the weapons or for Cisco to find out about the other two. What she didn’t expect was for Cisco to pull her into a hug. After a minute she hugged back before he let go. 

“I won’t tell Wells, but I do want to take a look at it,” he said gently reaching for it. 

“I hardly see why that’s necessary,” Hartley deadpanned. 

“I just want to make sure it is as harmless as you say,” Cisco hissed. He held out his hand for the gun, but not in a demanding way, which Lisa appreciated. Instead, it felt more like a question. She only took a moment before handing him the gun. “You can stay with me while I work on it.”

“Oh Cisco, you didn’t need a reason for me to stay by your side,” she teased. Lenny was going to kill her. But what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, or Cisco for that matter. He was just so disarming. Lisa smiled at the blush creeping up Cisco’s cheeks.

Hartley huffed. “While you do that I’m going to start designing the gloves. Don’t mess with my gun. I’m going to make sure it shoots before she leaves.”

“I wouldn’t sabotage her!” Cisco yelped. Hartley just glared before turning to work on the glove designs, their final project. Cisco went to his bench and started tinkering with the gun. 

Lisa pulled up a chair. “So, what will those gloves actually do? In layman’s terms please,” she said quickly when Cisco started to open his mouth. “You spoke science at lunch and I was lost.” 

“Sorry about that. We’re used to having to keep up with Harry, er, I mean Dr. Wells. Basically, we’ll be making two pairs. Mine will amplify my vibes, and Rathaway’s wanting to do something with sound.” Cisco huffed. 

“Sonic blasts!” Hartley shouted from across the room.

“Whatever.” Cisco rolled his eyes. “Mine’ll be the cool ones, just you wait.” Cisco waggled his eyebrows at her and Lisa couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Here, I’m gonna have to ask you to keep it on the lowest setting, or else I’ll have to go to Dr. Wells.” He handed her the gun again. 

“Of course, sweetie,” Lisa promised. “I’m gonna go shoot the mannequins.” She grabbed the gun and bounced over to the range. She hit the targets until they were thoroughly coated in the golden substance. “Perfect.” 

She turned around to let the boys know she would be heading out and saw Cisco leaning over Hartley pointing something out in the designs. She couldn’t help but smile. Those two claimed to hate each other, and on some level, they probably did, but she knew they pushed each other to be better. She’d heard Hartley complain about it enough but how else would they have gotten a whole floor to themselves.

“Welp, I’m going to be heading out, probably grab lunch,” Lisa said loud enough to draw their attention. “Unless you boys want me to pick us all up something then I could bring it back here? Lenny’s working at Saints so I could call in an order?” she offered.

“That sounds awesome,” Cisco said. 

“Thank you, Lise,” Hartley said with a smile. 

“Wait was that a smile? Oh my God, Lisa, you’ve done the impossible, Hartley showed an emotion that wasn’t contempt,” Cisco said in a mock scandalized voice. 

“I only show you contempt Ramon.” Hartley rolled his eyes and walked over to Lisa. Cisco followed laughing. Lisa wrote down their orders and headed out. She called Len once she was out of the building. The service in there sucked. 

She’s just hung up the phone when her hair blew back and Barry Allen stopped in front of her. “Lisa,” he started. 

“Back off Flash,” she growled and pushed passed him. 

“Wait, Lisa.” He went to grab her but Iris must have warned him because he stopped shy of touching her. But she stopped anyways. “Have you seen Leonard today?”

“Nope,” she popped the p and started walking again. “Just text him, if he wants to see you he’ll answer.”

“I did. He said he couldn’t meet and won’t answer my texts now,” Barry said in almost a pout. He walked with Lisa, despite how much she didn’t want him to.

Lisa rolled her eyes, “Why don't you just leave him alone?” 

“He saved Iris.” Lisa stopped short. “He saved Iris and I just want to thank him in person.” Barry stopped next to her and didn’t look at her. 

“What do you mean he saved Iris?” Lisa demanded, rounding on him.

“What did he tell you about where he got those injuries?” Barry asked. He glanced at her then looked away again. 

“Just that he ran into someone we used to know,” Lisa answered. She seemed less sure of herself now. 

“Well, apparently Iris was also there, and it could have gone a lot worse if he hadn’t been there,” Barry said. Lisa started walking again and Barry scrambled to catch up with her. 

“He’s at work. Follow me. But if you decide to harass him now that he’s at work and can’t leave I swear you will regret it,” Lisa assured him.

“Understood.” Barry nodded and fell in step with her. He didn’t speak until they were outside of Saints and Sinners. “He works here?” Lisa nodded. “Of course, he does.” 

They walked in. “Lenny!” Lisa called as they entered. “Hey, Kendra.”

“Hey Lise, how’s your day? Len’s getting your order ready. Hi Barry,” Kendra said. Barry gave her a small wave. 

“It’s been good. I’m spending time with Hart in the lab before I meet with Sara for studying, you?” Lisa asked leaning on the bar. 

“Sara’s gonna study?” Both girls laughed at that. “But seriously, I’m good. It just picked up and I’m covering for Carter tonight so I’m hoping to make bank tonight,” she said. 

“Here you go Lise, Eddie said he put in some extra fries for you,” Len said coming out of the kitchen door. He looked the receipt up and down before looking up. He scowled at Barry and focused on Lisa. “Kendra can ring you up.” He set the bag down then turned to go back to the back but Lisa grabbed his arm. 

“Lenny,” Lisa growled. She pulled him off to the side. “What really happened Wednesday night?” 

“I told you, I got into a confrontation with Roscoe,” Len said in an even voice. He did not let his eyes flick to the Flash. If he was here then that meant Iris had talked. 

“Then why did he,” she pointed at Barry, “say you saved Iris?” she hissed.

“She may also have been there.” Lisa looked unimpressed. “Okay, okay, fine. Investing the missing Metas lead me to the docks. It apparently led Miss West to the docks too. I went up to her and got jumped by Roscoe.”

“Do you think he’s involved?” she asked.

“Yes, if only slightly,” Len said. “It was too much of a coincidence for him not to be. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to keep you safe.”

“I’m not a Meta Lenny, and if it has to do with that asshole then I need to know to be prepared.” She took his hand. “Be careful, please, I haven’t seen you put yourself in danger like this since you worked with dad. Please, please Lenny, don’t take unnecessary risks, after this summer you’ll be done. Please don’t jeopardize it,” Lisa begged. 

“I won’t, I won’t, I swear to you,” Len assured. He pulled her into a tight hug. “Now, go, take your food back to your study group, and be safe.” Lisa bit her lip and looked down. “What?” 

“This food isn’t actually for my study group, I’m hanging in the lab with Hartley,” she paused for a moment and Len just raised an eyebrow, “and Cisco. We’re all hanging out in the lab.”

“What?” he demanded. 

“It just happened. I was with Hartley and Cisco showed up, and we’ve kinda been hanging out since then? Cisco looked at my gun, don’t freak out, he only knows about my guns, not yours or Micks. I promise. After I finish up there I’m going to meet with Laurel and all of them to study. But I will stay there for a few more hours,” Lisa explained in a rush.

Len pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just, be safe. I wish you would stay away from them but I can’t control you. Be safe, and if something bad happens, calling me immediately. Mick and I will take care of him,” Len said with a cool smile and Lisa couldn’t help but laugh.

“Thank you, Lenny.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Yeah, yeah, now get your food before it gets cold. Eddie’s in the kitchen today and snuck you some extra fries,” Len said releasing her. 

“Oh my god, that man is a saint! If only he wasn’t focused on Iris I would swoop in and make him mine,” Lisa said in a dreamy voice. 

“Well, he is. Now, get back there before Hart and Ramon end each other,” Len said. He gave her a light push toward the register. 

“I don’t know,” she mused. “Hartley is a drama queen, he and Cisco seemed fine. I mean they went at it like you and Mick used to, and still do,” Lisa explained. 

“Huh, just be careful,” Len said. 

“You do the same.” She glanced back over at the Flash who seemed to be looking everywhere but them. 

“I will,” he said. Then he took a breath and turned to Barry. He heard Lisa go pay with Kendra as he walked up to the Flash. “Can I help you?” he asked. He kept his voice carefully neutral. 

“Yes, I, uh, could we talk privately for a minute?” he asked glancing around. 

“No, I’m working. So, talk now or get out,” Len said. He turned as if he was going to leave but Barry made as if he was going to grab him. Len turned back so Barry’s hand completely missed him.

“Right, sorry. I just wanted to thank you. For Wednesday and for saving Iris. I don’t know what happened. She told me it wasn’t her story to tell, but I know without you she, she might not’ve made it out of there,” Barry said. He finally looked at Len

Len could see the tears in his eyes and his expression cracked. “Tell Miss West thank you for not disclosing the details. She and I worked together to get out of there.” Barry’s eyes flicked to the bandage on his arm but Len ignored it. “Advise her not to wander off on her own and she’ll be fine.”

“Trust me, I have. But also, that wiped away your debt. I wouldn’t even know what to do if something had happened to her. Please let me make it up to you. Take you out to dinner or something?” Barry offered. 

Len took a step back. “It’s wiped clean? Even though you insisted I owed you two and I only saved one life?” Len asked. He had to be sure. If Barry really wiped it clean then he could wash his hands of this whole missing Metas thing. 

“Will you let me take you out to dinner?” Barry asked, not answering his question. Because if the answer is no then I’m going to use my other favor to buy you dinner.” This was the first time that, despite his words, Barry looked unsure. 

Len just sighed. “Fine, guess I’m going to dinner. I’m free Tuesday through Thursday nights, after class. Otherwise, I’m in class or working here,” Len said. 

“Would Thursday work? I don’t have class the next day,” Barry said. He perked up the moment Len said yes. 

“I guess so,” Len said. “But, Allen, stop texting me while I’m at work. I can’t afford to lose this job.” Luckily Kendra was taking the orders of the few people that came in. He’d have to go around and get refills for everyone. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry. I’ll let you get back to your job. Sorry, I’ll text you!” Barry shouted as he jogged out. 

Len rolled his eyes and went around to get the refills and touch base with the tables he hadn’t yet. On Fridays, he wished they would schedule two waiters but luckily the bartender would help out. 

When the lunch rush finally died down it was close to three. He didn’t have to work a double today and for that, he couldn’t help but smile just a little bit wider. He would text Felicity to see if she had any information he could use. Even if he was meeting with the Flash on Thursday he didn’t want to be out of the loop until then.

But of course, his day just had to get worse. Eddie and Kendra were discussing what she should order when she went to break when Professor Thawne walked in. Eddie immediately turned and headed for the kitchen. 

“Eddie’s not here,” Len clearly lied when Thawne walked up to him. 

He just chuckled. “I’m not here to talk to him.” Thawne sat in a booth. “Will you be my waiter?” he asked. 

Len straightened up and put on a forced smile. “What can I get for you?” he asked. 

“Hmm, is my waste of a nephew the cook?” Len nodded. “Then just a root beer and a burger with fries. I doubt even he could mess that up.” Len nodded and wrote the order down.

He put it in the system and got the drink. He set the root beer on the table but before he could remove his hand Thawne had it in a vice grip, pinning it to the table. “What part of stay away from Barry Allen did you not understand?” he hissed. 

Len held back a growl of pain. “I think you’re not understanding Allen is his own person. I don’t control him and you don’t control him. Are you stalking the kid, Professor?” Len hissed. 

“As the only other speedster around.” Len snorted. “What was that?” Thawne demanded. 

“What was what?” Len feigned ignorance. 

“That noise. I’m the only other speedster around.” He locked eyes with Len, red lightning danced in his eyes. “What do you know?” He pulled Len down closer and it felt like his bones were going to break. 

“I don’t know anything,” Len growled. “Now, let me go, before we call the police.” Len jerked on his arm to no avail. 

“Go ahead call them. I’m a well-respected Meta, they can’t touch me,” Thawne threatened. And Len knew he was right. 

“Professor Thawne,” Kendra’s voice boomed. “Release him.” She unfurled her wings. “Now, this is a place of business and Leonard can’t do his job if you don’t let him go.” Her eyes took on a slight glow and Len couldn’t help but be impressed. He’d never seen her go full goddess before, but she looked close. 

Thawne let him go. “Fine, could I get that burger to go, please?” Thawne asked. He stood up and walked to the counter. Len went to the back and saw Eddie hastily shoving the food in a bag. Len grabbed it and came back to Thawne paying. Kendra still hadn’t put her wings back down yet. “See you in class, Leonard,” Thawne said on his way out. 

It seemed everyone in the restaurant waited until he was out of sight to start moving again. Eddie rushed over to him with a bag of ice. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry Len. Are you okay?” he asked in a rush. 

“What are you like a speedster magnet?” Kendra asked finally putting her wings away. 

“I’m fine, it’ll bruise but nothing broken and I really hope not. It is becoming so much more dangerous here. I just want to survive and graduate,” Len muttered. Both Eddie and Kendra cracked a smile. 

The rest of the shift went by without incident. He sent a text to Felicity, he didn’t expect to almost immediately receive a text telling him to meet her in computer lab D. That was the smallest of the computer labs in the freezing basement of the library. Which meant it was a good place for privacy. Len had a bad feeling about that. He quickly stopped to change clothes and grab his laptop then he jogged over. 

He knocked on the door before entering. He was only mildly surprised to see Iris West in there as well. Felicity was at the main computer with the projector, Oliver was in the back and looked up to glare at him but then went back to staring at his computer, but it was Cisco that really surprised him. He was turned to the whiteboard that Felicity was projecting on scribbling on it.

“Leonard!” Iris said looking up. Apparently, they were now on a first name basis.

“Good, you’re here,” Felicity said standing up. “Where did you get this number?” she demanded. 

“What did you find out?” Len countered. 

“This is military. Like we don’t exist level of the military. Where did you get the number?” Felicity insisted. 

“A man named General Eiling gave it to me. In case I saw any rogue Metas.” Len let the silence fall on the room. Even Iris’s typing stopped. 

“What?” Felicity asked in a small voice. “What does that mean?” 

Len shrugged. “I’ve no idea. But I’m betting it means Metas that can disappear and no one would care. Like Clyde Mardon, or those other two the police aren’t doing anything about.”

“If this is the military then the police’s hands might be tied,” Iris said standing up. “That might be why they’re not doing anything. I’ll ask my dad about it tonight.”

“Have you called it?” Cisco asked quietly. His voice was tight. “Did you call the number?” he asked again, louder, angrier.

“Of course not,” Len sneered. 

“Cisco,” Iris chastised. 

“I’m just saying, he’s never shown an interest in Metas and then suddenly he gets this card with a phone number and then he starts taking an interest? Seem awfully convenient,” he scoffed. 

“For your information, I was doing this for a friend. Felicity is a tech wizard so I asked her about it. She involved you, Ramon, not me, I would rather you stayed far away from me,” Len said. He stood up to his full height, but Cisco looked unimpressed. 

He just held out his hand. “That can be arranged.”

“Cisco no!” Iris yelled stepping in between them. As if that would really stop him if he so chose to create a portal. “He’s not involved. We were taken Wednesday and trust me they were not on the same side.” 

“Taken?” Cisco asked. He lowered his hand just a little. 

“Sorry,” Iris winced. 

“It’s fine. Miss West and I were investigating the docks when we were ambushed and tied up along with another Human and a Meta. As we were escaping they took the Meta.” Before he could stop her Felicity flew to the computer and pulled up the footage of the docks. 

“How did you pull that up so fast?” Iris asked. Her eyes were focused on the projector. So were everyone’s eyes, and Len grimaced. He doubted Roscoe would have taken out the cameras in the warehouse. 

“I’ve got the places with the blackouts, glitches, did we decide on glitches. Wait doesn’t matter, I’ve got them running in the background,” Felicity explained as the warehouse came into view.

They watched Len walk up to Iris, and her get clocked, then Len carrying her in. Felicity switched the camera to inside. Luckily there was no sound but the picture their actions painted was pretty clear. 

Cisco let out a low whistle then a soft, “Damn,” when Iris clocked Roscoe. They also watched Len almost kill him and he could feel Queen’s eyes on him. But he didn’t and they went over to Hunter.

This was the part he was most interested in. Roscoe got up only a few moments later. He seemed to briefly debate attacking Len from behind before cutting his losses and running. Len couldn’t help but frown. If Roscoe had been working on his own he would’ve attacked Len, this just confirmed he was working, probably closely, with Lewis. 

They watched Len gather his things and head out. Then he ducked behind some crates and looked at something, but the glitch was there. Before he turned and pulled Iris and Hunter out the other side. 

“What did you see?” Iris asked first. 

“There were a group of men cuffing the blindfolded guy. I couldn’t see who they were but as I stated, I didn’t want to get kidnapped anymore that night,” Len explained. 

“Could you identify any of them?” Felicity asked. 

“It was dark and I was quite a bit away, so doubtful,” Len said. It was the half-truth.

“Iris, what did you hit that guy with?” Cisco asked. He seemed to be studying Len even though he was talking to Iris. 

“I’m not sure, a stun gun of some sort, why?” she asked. Her eyes flicked to Len but he kept his gaze on Cisco.

“Well his sister has a very similar looking gun and it shoots gold,” Cisco mused. 

“Well, Lisa’s always liked to be flashy,” Len said. “And when your abusive ex is out of prison then you need some protection.” 

“Yeah, she mentioned that. Doesn’t really explain why you would have something similar,” Cisco pressed. 

“You got something to say Ramon, then say it. But not all of us have powers or meatheads that follow us around.” Oliver took a step at him at that. “But I don’t owe you an explanation, or anyone. I’ll protect myself and my sister, everyone else can bite it for all I care.” Len didn’t realize that he had moved until he was right in Cisco’s face.

“If everyone else can bite it then what are you even doing here?” Ramon asked.

“You know,” Len let a smirk slide onto his face, “I have no idea.” He turned and walked to the door. “And Ramon, stay away from my sister, or there will be consequences.” He let as much ice go into his voice as he could manage. He walked out the door.

Before it shut he heard Cisco say, “Was that a threat? Because I promise you will lose if it was!” 

He got out of the library before he heard, “Leonard wait!” He paused and Iris ran up next to him. 

“What can I do for you Miss West? I thought I made it clear I wasn’t really a team player,” Len drawled trying to sound bored. 

“Please, I think we can use first names now, call me Iris. But when Barry was telling me about your first,” she paused, thinking about the right word, “encounter, you mentioned bending the laws to get results. Would you still do that?” 

“Don’t really want to be a part of a team,” Len insisted. 

“You wouldn’t. It would be just you and me. We could interview and investigate together. I could ask the questions and you could be the muscle. Barry is going to be watching me like a hawk and I can’t get information that way but if I were with you then I could,” she said in a rush. 

“Why would I want that?” Len asked. “What’s in it for me?” 

 

“Aside from answers I know you probably want about the missing Metas?” Iris asked. When he didn’t respond she sighed. “Fine, it would get Cisco and Barry off your back. I know Barry was going to come to talk to you today.” 

“He did. Thanked me for saving you,” Len cut in. 

“Good, and since you’ve done that he would be willing to let us out together without worrying. I mean he’ll still worry but not as much. We’re not Metas, it would make sense that we are at a lower risk than everyone else. And if you’ve already made contact with this General person then you’re a step ahead of everyone else.” Iris took a breath. “I won’t force you. But I could really use your help.” 

Len let out a breath. “Fine, I’ve got a responsibility to my rogues as Allen put it. But I’m done working with Ramon.” 

“I’ll talk to him get him to back off, thank you so much Leonard!” Iris said. A smile broke on her face and Len couldn’t help the feeling this was going to end poorly for all those involved. “I’ll talk to my dad and see if he knows anything about the military or if he has any leads.”

“I’ll get in contact with one of my people. If anything is going on in this town she knows it,” Len said. “Are you free tomorrow night? If we can meet here then I’ll try for then.”

“Yeah, I’m free. Who is this contact?” Iris asked. 

But Len just smirked. “If she wants you to know she’ll tell you. But it’s kind of a rule you don’t divulge information about her.” 

“Fine, fine. If you think she can help I can be free. I’ll tell my dad I’m studying with a group,” Iris relented. Len was surprised she let it go that easily but he didn’t doubt she had started a list of questions for her right now. “Here’s my number. Text me with the details. I’ve got to get home, Dad’s making dinner. Again, thank you so much Leonard.” She waved as she walked off.

Len raised a hand and shook his head. He sent a text to Lisa to see where they were. He started walking, he needed to clear his head. He actually had the cold gun in his bag so he was glad he never actually got to sit down. Lisa told him they were in the library, he’d figured that. But he still needed some time to breathe. 

“So, Mr. Snart,” one of the last voices he wanted to hear said.

“Professor Thawne. Are you stalking me?” Len asked without stopping. 

Thawne fell into step beside him. “I like to keep an eye on my students,” Thawne said.

“Do you like to threaten your students?” Len grumbled. 

“Only when they work. And they don’t seem to work on you. So, I’m done with that.” Len glanced over at him. “Honest. I think we can do much better if we work together.”

“Why would I want to work with you?” Len countered. 

“You may not want to, but with Metas going missing you may not have a choice. What do you know? Is there another speedster?” Thawne asked. He put a hand on Len’s shoulder to stop him.

“What if there is?” Len countered. 

“Then we’re all in danger. Barry is fast but not fast enough to take down a speedster, he can’t even beat me in a fight and I’m holding back,” Thawne explained. “What color was the lightning?”

“What if the speedster was on a leash. Like he seemed to listen to listen to someone? Take commands from them?” Len asked. He didn’t mention he had a way to slow down speedsters. 

“So you’re admitting there is another speedster?” Thawne countered. 

“I’m admitting the possibility and there is a possibility that his lightning is blue,” Len admitted.

Thawne’s grip on his shoulder became painful and he hissed. “You’re sure it was blue.”

“Yes,” he growled.

“That is Zoom. He’s the worst of the speedsters. And he’s supposed to only be a myth. A government experiment gone wrong. Or gone right depending on who you ask,” Thawne said. He released Len’s shoulder. “This is bad. He can hunt speedsters and kill them.”

“He seemed to take orders from a General Eiling,” Len said. If Thawne knew about this might as well let him in on the secrets. 

Thawne let out a bark of laughter. “I should’ve known Eiling was involved. Thank you Leonard.” 

“Wait!” But Thawne was already gone. “Damnit,” he growled. This was all spiraling out of control.

Len stalked back to the apartment. He needed to figure somethings out. But Mick opened the door before he could. “Where are you going?” 

“Out,” Mick grunted. He was dressed nicer than usual but not exactly nice. 

“Where out?” Len pressed. He blocked Mick’s exit.

“Just out, Snart,” Mick huffed. “What’s up with you?” Mick looked him up and down.

“I’m apparently working with Team Flash to solve this missing Metas thing,” Len explained. 

“Why? Thought you were done with all of that,” he said. 

“So, did I Mick, so did I. But with Roscoe and Lewis involved with this I really just want them out of the picture. And if the Flash and friends end up owing me along the way I’m not going to say no.”

“Be careful Snart. You’re not one to get mixed up in other people’s business,” Mick warned. 

“I’m protecting my assets, Mick. The Metas stop going missing and we can go on with our lives and graduate in peace,” Len huffed. 

Mick just hummed but otherwise didn’t comment. Len moved out of the way and let Mick pass. They both knew the other was hiding something but they also knew that no matter what it was they would have the other’s back. That’s just how they were. 

Mick walked to the dorm the Killer Frost had messaged him. He betted that even though Len was working with them now fucking them would be the best option. But when she messaged him with a dorm number and ‘I’m alone and want to see how hot you can actually get’ he wasn’t going to say no. 

He knocked on the door and did not expect Killer Frost to answer the door in her bra and panties. “Come on in.” She moved to let him in. 

“Thanks,” he said not sure if it was better to stare at her or anywhere but her. 

She laughed, probably seeing the confusion on his face. “My roomies are home for the weekend. I didn’t want to be bored. Take off your clothes, everything but your underwear.” 

“What are you playing at Frosty?” Mick asked even as he moved to comply. 

“Caity hasn’t gotten laid in a while and neither have I. Then you come along and honestly show me what I’ve been missing. I’m wanting a repeat of yesterday. And if you don’t then there is the door and I’ll leave you alone.” She moved into his space. “But if you’re willing I was thinking we could make this into a game. I’ll have the place to myself until Sunday.” 

“I have a game tomorrow but for tonight I’m all in,” Mick assured. 

A grin broke onto her face. “Excellent. I order take out earlier. I figured we could eat and watch some Netflix. And if you wanted to do that game I was talking about we could do something with orgasms.”

Mick’s mouth went dry. “What did ya have in mind?” 

“Well, I was thinking we had a few options. I could tease you and we could see how long it takes before you’re begging,” she purred coming up to him. “Or you could tease me. We could see how many times we can come,” she offered. “Or we could be kinda boring but classic and make out for a bit then give each other handies or oral. I’m down for anything really.” 

“And where would this be happening?” Mick was already tight in his pants. 

“Well, we’ve got my room, the couch, or if you wanted to be really kinky my roommate’s room,” Killer Frost purred. She started sucking on his neck. “Tonight I’ll be nice and let you choose.” 

“Your room,” Mick said breathlessly. Killer Frost laughed against his neck. “And let’s try to get the other to beg.” 

“I like your style hot stuff,” she said pulling away. “We can decide what the loser has to do later. Help me carry in the food and we can get started.” Killer Frost said. She went over to the counter and grabbed the food. 

Oh yeah, this was gonna be a fun night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two questions. First one, do you guys like the style? Where we see a little bit from each of Lisa, Mick, and Len's day? Or do you want it to be a single POV per chapter?  
> Second Question. Do you guys want to see Mick and KF's sexy times? I figured ending on sex twice in a row was a little much especially since I don't know how popular that ship is. If anyone wants it I could make it a separate small chapter so those who don't want to see it can skip it. 
> 
> But tell me what you guys thought! We're finally learning some more here. Not gonna lie, writing Thawne has been amusing, but please tell me what you think of him. Also ten points to anyone who can guess who Len was talking about. See you next week!!


	6. Good Things and Bad Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa gets a job. Len and Iris meet with his contact. And then things get bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was not able to post last week because this chapter was going one way and I didn't like it. But now I like this more and it will advance the plot. There is a reference to self-harm, I'll put more details below. Enjoy!

Len wasn’t surprised to get a reply email while he was at work. He was pleasantly surprised that the answer was yes, and they could get dinner that night and discuss the Metas. He sent a quick text to Iris telling her that they were on for tonight and what restaurant to meet at. It was higher class so he also sent the dress code. 

“Who’re texting?” the new girl, Hannah asked. She was waitressing while he worked the bar. Carter was in the back. “Girlfriend?” Len just rolled his eyes. “Boyfriend?” she pressed. 

“Study group,” he said without looking up. 

“I’ve never seen anyone grin like that at a study group,” she teased. 

Len frowned and looked up. “We’re doing a group project, we got good news.” 

“Fine, fine, don’t tell me,” she pouted. 

Len just rolled his eyes once again and put his phone away after getting a thumbs up from Iris. She was quite noisy but he hadn’t worked with her a lot yet. The door opened and Lisa walked in, followed by Hartley and Cisco. 

“Hey Lenny,” she called. She led them to a booth. 

Hannah smiled and started to walk over to them. “Wait,” Len put his hand on her shoulder. “That’s my sister. I’ll take it.” Hannah huffed but didn’t argue. He walked over to them, glaring at his sister the whole time. “What can I get you all to drink?” he asked with no preamble. 

“Lenny, come on, be nice,” Lisa warned. Her tone was playful but Len got the warning. 

“I’m being perfectly nice,” he said, still with a smile. They ordered their drinks and food. 

As Len was passing out the drinks Lisa asked. “You wanna come see a movie with us tonight Lenny?” 

Len raised an eyebrow. “No, I’m busy tonight, sis.” He sent a glare at Cisco, who had the decency to avert his eyes. 

“Come on, doing what?” she asked. 

“I’m having dinner with a colleague,” Len answered. And immediately regretted it the way Lisa’s eyes lit up. 

“Ooh, dinner? Who are they?” she pressed. 

She knew he was bi and therefore didn’t like to make assumptions. “Since you’re not going to leave this alone, Miss West and I are hunting down a lead tonight.” 

Cisco nearly spat out his drink. Which would’ve been funny if Hartley weren’t right in front of him. “Iris? Does Barry know?” 

“I’ve no idea. But I do know that both she and I are adults and he has no claim on her. If she hasn’t told him then I know him nothing either,” Len said in a hard voice.

“That isn’t, what I meant was,” Cisco struggled to come up with an excuse while they all glared at him. Well, Len and Hartley glared, Lisa looked amused at how he was going to dig himself out of that grave. Finally, he gave up. “Actually, you’re right. Have fun be safe.” He took a long drink from his soda, probably to stop from talking anymore. 

“So. I’ll be home late. We’re have a late dinner at Timeless,” Len explained. He saw understanding cross Lisa’s face. “So be careful and don’t be out to late. And if you see Mick kick his ass for me. He wasn’t home last night and I only got a ‘I’m fine’ text this morning.” 

“Will do!” she said giving him a salute. 

Len rolled his eyes and left to get their food. He brought it out and the three chatted amongst themselves. Lisa was glad it was Saturday, she and Laurel had agreed they needed a break. Which was why she was out with Cisco and Hartley. 

They had been working in the lab when she’d come to find them. Really either of them it was just a plus they were both there. And they didn’t appear to be working. They were watching an office with glass walls. Inside were Professor Wells and Professor Thawne. They seemed to be arguing. 

“What’s going on?” she asked. 

They both jumped and turned towards her. “Lisa, hey!” Cisco said with a bright smile. “Uh, Wells and Thawne stormed down here and locked themselves in that room and started yelling,” Cisco explained. 

“Is that an office?” she asked. It certainly didn’t look like one. 

“No,” Hartley mused. “But this is the floor with the most privacy, just the two, well, now three of us, and its sound proof,” he said with a shrug. 

“Uh-huh,” Lisa said. She watched Wells pick up something and launch it at Thawne. He barely moved to block it. Thawne seemed to be pleading with Wells. Lisa looked harder. No, it wasn’t pleading, it looked like he was trying to explain something but was exasperated. 

After a few minutes Wells knocked off a shelf and both Hartley and Cisco cringed. “Okay, we move all breakable prototypes out of there as soon as they leave,” Cisco muttered. 

“Agreed,” Hartley sighed. 

“How long have they been going at it?” Lisa asked. She strained to see what Thawne was now pointing at. She couldn’t see it. 

“They came down about twenty-ish minutes ago?” Cisco said. Hartley nodded in confirmation. “But they were probably already in the middle of an argument before they got down.” 

Lisa made a noncommittal noise as they watched Thawne raise his hands in what seemed like defeat. If it hadn’t been Thawne doing it. He opened the door and they heard Wells shout, “Get me the proof! I’m not going to chase a fairy tale!” 

Thawne stormed out with barely a glance in the trio’s direction. When he was gone they seemed to relax just a bit. Until Wells came stalking out. “What?” he barked at them. 

“Uh, nothing!” Cisco yelped. Hartley just sighed as if that was the worst thing to say. 

“Who’s this? What is she doing in my lab?” Wells demanded. And it was only because the bottom levels weren’t technically owned by the school that Lisa got nervous he would throw her out. 

“This is Lisa Snart. She’s, uh, helping us with some of the prototypes,” Cisco said quickly. 

“How?” he demanded. Lisa figured pissed off was definitely the worst way to meet Professor Harry Wells.

“She’s helping us with testing.” Hartley quickly stepped in. “We’ve got a lot going on down here and if we’re able to use our inventions that’s great. But some of the things are for other people. And if they are not able use it then we’ve failed the objective. But with Lisa here we can make sure that what needs to be handle by the commoners can be.”

Lisa just glanced over at him. She had no idea what he had just signed her up for. Cisco did though, if the look he shot Hartley was anything to say by it. Wells just looked her up and down for a moment though. “Has she filled out the paperwork?” he asked. 

“She’s doing that today. It’s a,” Hartley paused, “relatively new position.” 

Wells nodded. Maybe it was the fact he had just been dealing with Thawne and had bigger fish to fry that he wasn’t pushing this or maybe it was something else but he nodded. “Fine, I want her paperwork on my desk by five pm. Otherwise she’s banned and you’ll be working under my supervision,” he threatened. 

“Yes sir,” they both responded. Wells nodded to her then left without another word. 

She whirled on Hartley. “What did you just sign me up for?” she asked with a dangerous smile. 

“Basically, to be our Guinea pig. If you’re not authorized to be in the lab then you’re not allowed in here. How did you get in here? You don’t have a key card,” Hartley asked. 

“The door wasn’t shut all the way,” Lisa answered. 

“And he yells at us,” Cisco muttered. “But I’ll go get the forms and we can get you a key card.” He jogged off. 

Lisa took off her bag with the gold gun in it and sat at a table. “How much paperwork is there?”

“Quite a bit. It mostly just saying that you want talk to anyone outside of those on this floor, including Wells, about what we’re doing here and Wells has the right to go after you legally if you do,” Hartley said. 

“Anyone else think these professors are allowed to get away with a lot?” Lisa asked mostly to herself. 

Cisco set a binder in front of her. “Oh no, they totally are. But Harry’s the best so it makes sense.” 

“It’s because of the whole Meta and Human thing,” Hartley answered absently. 

“What?” Lisa and Cisco asked. 

“I mean, the school board has to let them get away with a lot because if not they can claim discrimination and then there would be a whole bunch of legal trouble. It’s not only that we have Meta and Human students it’s also the teachers. You’ve got Humans like Wells or Cecil from your program. But then you’ve also got Metas like Thawne or Professor Stein.” Hartley glanced over at them. “What you guys didn’t realize that also wasn’t common?” 

Most colleges were one or the other, Human or Meta. Central City University was one of the few universities that actively encouraged all students. Those laws had been in place for decades and although some people worked on getting them changed, and they had changed for the workplace, there just wasn’t enough people to take on private colleges. 

“I guess it didn’t really come up,” Cisco said. “But hey, so the teachers can get away with a bit more. What’s the- “ 

“Don’t!” Hartley cut him off. “Don’t finish that sentence. With the Metas going missing there is a lot of worse things that can happen. Let’s just get to work.” Hartley moved over to the designs again. 

“Right, yeah. Let us know when you’re finished with that,” Cisco said. He gave her an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder and joined Hartley. 

After several hours Lisa had filled out the long, no holds bar paperwork. Her eyes hurt and she was hungry. Which is how she ended up dragging Cisco and Hartley to Saints and Sinners. 

After chatting with Len Lisa knew he was serious about finding the Metas, despite what he was saying, if he was going to Timeless. “Will do!” she said giving him a salute. He just rolled his eyes and walked away. She snickered and turned to the table. 

After some time, they decided on a movie. Hartley tried to back out of it but Lisa didn’t let him. But it took Cisco telling him to “lighten up and see the movie” for Hartley to agree. Lisa smirked, these two didn’t hate each other but they definitely had some tension they needed to work out. 

They paid and Lisa told him to be careful one more time before they left. They had a few hours to kill before the movie and Lisa suggested ice cream. One of the perks of knowing a Meta that could teleport was when Hartley wished they could get ice cream from a really good place in Starling Cisco provided a ride. 

“Oh wow, I will never get tired of that,” Lisa breathed as they stepped out. Cisco smiled just a little wider. 

“I haven’t had this is years,” Hartley said looking up at the small ice cream parlor. 

“Well then let’s not keep your taste buds waiting,” Cisco said. He held open the door. “After you.”

Hartley looked surprised but walked in with a smile on his face. Lisa followed grinning from ear to ear. They ordered, with suggestions from Hartley, and sat outside with Lisa and Hartley on either side of Cisco. It was cool but comfortable. 

Hartley didn’t say much but when he started eating his ice cream he got a faraway look on his face. Lisa didn’t say anything, she just watched and let Cisco ramble about some show he had just started. But when Cisco noticed the look he stopped. 

“Hartley? You okay man?” he asked. He gently touched Hartley’s arm which seemed to snap him out of it. 

“What, yeah, no, I’m fine. What were we talking about?” he said in a rush. 

“Hart, what’s wrong?” Lisa pressed. 

He just sighed and shook his head. “I used to come here with my parents before everything went wrong. And I didn’t realize that the last time I was here was like a day before I told them I was gay. It’s actually one of the reasons I did it. We’d had such a good day I thought it would last.” He shook his head again as if to clear the memory. “I guess it hadn’t been as good a day as I’d thought.” He looked at the ice cream as if it had betrayed him. 

“Well, now we’ll just have to make better memories with this ice cream,” Lisa declared. 

“Yeah man, ice cream is forever even if other things aren’t,” Cisco said somewhat lamely. 

“That supposed to make me feel better?” Hartley asked. But there was little heat to his voice. 

Cisco shrugged and went to say something but instead all that came out was a sneeze. Lisa giggled out a, “Bless you,” and Hartley muttered, “Gesundheit,” but they both started laughing when they saw the ice cream mark on his forehead. 

“Gah! Brain freeze!” Cisco cried, searching for napkins. 

In between the laughter Hartley managed, “Don’t you have to have a brain to freeze it?” Which made Lisa laugh all the harder. 

“You’re gonna think that when I leave you here!” Cisco threatened. He found the napkins and started cleaning his forehead. 

“Aww, you wouldn’t leave little ole’ me, would you Cisco?” Lisa pouted. She slid real close to him.

“Uh, okay, I wouldn’t leave you,” Cisco relented. 

“Or Hartley?” Cisco made an exaggerated glance at Hartley. A quick look from Lisa  
and Hartley was pouting too. He also slid in close. “After all, this was his idea.”

“Fine, I probably wouldn’t leave Hartley either,” Cisco relented. But he was smiling. Lisa pulled them both into a hug, surprising them both. 

“Now, I’m thinking we should hit an early movie then get dinner since Lenny can’t join us. What do you boys think?” Lisa asked letting them go. 

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll check the times here in Starling,” Cisco suggested. He pulled out his phone.

“And if we’ve got time we can hit the mall!” Lisa shouted. Both Hartley and Cisco rolled their eyes, but the smiles didn’t leave their faces. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Len got ready. It had been a quiet day and Eddie had been happy when the shift change came because he’d spent most of the day with Iris. Len would call that a win. 

There was another confirmation text from Iris confirming what she should wear. He was wearing a nice navy suit with a lighter tie that had faint snowflakes on it. He sent her a picture and she replied with ‘DAMN’ then a picture of herself in a skin tight burgundy dress. ‘Wow, lookin good!’ Len replied with a roll of his eyes. 

He didn’t have a car so he took the motorcycle he and Lisa shared. And by shared she rode in the side car. Timeless was just under thirty minutes away and they were supposed to be there at eight. He checked his outfit one more time and headed out. 

As he got off the bike he saw Iris pull in. She waved and he walked over to her car. “Miss West, looking lovely this evening,” he said as he opened her door. 

“And you look quite dashing, Leonard,” she said. 

He offered her his arm and she took it with a smile. They walked into the fancy restaurant and Len pulled her closer. The bouncers seemed to eye them up and down but Len ignored them. He saw Iris discreetly watch them.

The hostess was a gorgeous blonde. She stopped them before they even looked at the dining room. “May I help you?” she asked in that customer service voice. Her smile was too tight to be considered friendly or welcoming. 

Iris smiled back but she did hold onto him a little tighter. He just smiled. “I believe Miss Wave is expecting us? Mr. Scofield,” he said. His grin was sharper than hers.

Her eyes widened and she hurried back to the podium. “Yes, right, of course.” She checked the list and looked back up. “Please follow me.” She walked off. 

Iris looked up at him now that the hostess’s back was turned, but he just minutely shook his head. She seemed to understand and looked straight ahead. Len glanced around but luckily he didn’t see anyone he knew. Which meant they didn’t know him. That was good. He’d done a brief stint with the Santini’s and it had been just that, brief. But it had been successful and he knew Lewis was still in contact with them. Len didn’t really want to repeat that. 

They were led through the restaurant to the back. The hostess opened a door and pulled back a curtain. “She’s through here. Enjoy you stay.” 

Len nodded and felt the curtain fall back as they walked through. The room was dim, and there were actually a few tables but only one had an occupant. She was a gorgeous brunette and she stood to greet them. 

“Ms. Wave,” Len said taking her hand and kissing it. 

“Come now, Leonard, call me Gideon,” she said in a slight British accent. 

He glanced at Iris. “Very well, I wasn’t sure.”

Gideon looked over as well. “And you must be Miss West, you may call me Gideon as well.” She held out her hand and Iris shook it. “Shall we sit? I’ve gone ahead and ordered us their fabulous four course meal and champagne.” 

“Of course,” Len said. He moved and pulled out Gideon’s chair first then Iris’s before taking his own seat. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

Gideon waved him off. “I’m almost never too busy for you Leonard. Unless something major happens in the Family I will always be able to see you,” she assured him. 

Len smiled, just a small one. “Well thank you all the same, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances than this.” 

“As do I. Someone is kidnapping Metas in my city, I’m not a fan,” Gideon said gravely. The waiter came over with three flutes of champagne, set them down, and left without a word. 

“And we’re hoping to stop it. Or at least expose it.” Len glanced to Iris. “Miss West is a reporter.”

“Is she now?” Gideon turned her attention fully to Iris. 

“Um, yes, or well, I will be. I’m still in school as of now and I don’t think people would count my blog as reporting,” Iris said. She nervously sipped at the champagne.

“No, no. Don’t down play yourself like that,” Gideon lightly scolded. “Are you reporting on things in your blog?” Iris paused a moment, probably startled then nodded. “Then you are a reporter. Just because you don’t work for a big company doesn’t mean you can’t be a reporter or an investigative journalist.” 

The way she said it made Len believe Gideon had not only had someone vet Iris before coming here but also looked at her blog personally. Gideon certainly liked to be thorough. 

“Oh, um, thank you,” Iris said. Len noted a blush on her cheeks. Gideon had that effect on people. 

“Of course. You can never have too many friends in the media. Let’s get down to business, shall we? But first, the rules, as always. Leonard, you know these but Miss West these will be new to you.” Iris’s eyes widened but she didn’t say anything, just nodded. “Good, first thing first, we never met. Second, the details of this meeting do not leave this meeting. This is entirely off the record. If we find anything we can reconsider that, but for now, not even off the record comments. And third do not lie, it will only make this harder in the long run. Leonard is trusting you Miss West and things will get ugly if you betray that trust. Now, about these missing Metas,” Gideon said turning back to Len. 

“Yes, we were hoping you might have some insight. We know the military is taking Metas but we don’t know where or why,” Len explained. 

“And how do you know that?” Gideon asked. 

The door opened and they brought out the first course, Gideon thanked them, then Leonard continued. “I’ve seen it. Clyde Mardon, one of the Weather Wizards, went missing a couple of weeks ago. He turned up outside of Saints and Sinners and then was promptly captured by a man named General Eiling.” 

Gideon slammed her hand on the table. “That bastard,” she growled. “You’ve spoken to him?” Len nodded. “What name did you use?” 

“Michael Scofield. Gideon what’s wrong?” he asked. He and Iris glanced at each other but his focus was pulled when Gideon grabbed his hand. He knew better than to pull away so he met her, now glowing blue, eyes.

Len didn’t think he’d ever get used to this feeling. Gideon hadn’t often had to use her powers on him and when she did it was always with his permission. This time was the closest to not having permission she’d ever come. 

It felt like his soul left his body and was traveling backwards. She went back to the weekend he met General Eiling. He slammed into that version of him. He couldn’t move, not outside of what had happened, and it all just felt like a really vivid memory or dream. 

He saw Gideon looking around. She could move about freely. She went over to Eiling and started rifling through his pockets. Len didn’t know how Gideon was able to do this or why when it was Len’s memory but he had always suspected this was less memory jumping and more actual time travel, or spirit travel. As soon as the speedster, Zoom, showed up Gideon leapt over and put her hand on his chest a moment before they were gone. 

Len gasped as his spirit came back to his body. Gideon’s eyes dimmed and Len slumped back. Luckily Iris caught him. He was a little fuzzy but he felt her dab a cool napkin on his forehead.

“What did you do to him?” Iris demanded. Len blinked up at her to see her glaring at Gideon. It looked like the second course had been brought out while he was under. 

“I needed to see what he saw, so I used my abilities. He is unharmed, it takes a moment to recover,” Gideon said. The only reaction she had was a slight flush to her cheeks.

“I’m okay, Miss West.” He pushed off and sat up. “It’s happened before, I assure you I am unharmed.” 

Iris looked at him skeptically, he didn’t really blame her, but smiled anyway. “If you’re sure.” She turned back to Gideon. “Did you find anything useful at least?”

“Yes. If you had touched the general I could’ve gotten more but as it is I was able to get a name. Valentina Vostok, I’ll have my people look into her,” Gideon explained. 

“Where did you get that name?” Len asked. He was still slightly out of breath but it would pass. 

“The card with that phone number was not the only card he had. There were a few others with the same number and then there was one tucked into his breast pocket with the name Dr. Valentina Vostok. There was nothing else on the card and it was well worn. If you’ll excuse me for a moment I need to make a call. Please, continue eating.” And with that she stood up. She went through a side door, not the one they came in through. 

Iris grabbed his arm, nails biting into him. “Is that Gideon Ryder?” she demanded in a hiss. “Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

“Would you have come if you’d known we were meeting one of the most successful mob bosses in the city one on one?” he countered. Most people would say no. 

“I didn’t know she was a Meta,” Iris continued. 

“She doesn’t really advertise it. And if you go blowing the whistle on her not only with you and I be dead but so will your family, and my family. This information doesn’t leave here, got it?” he said in a hard voice. 

“Got it.” They brought out the third course and Len thanked them. Iris gave him a hard look. “How do you know her?” 

“Miss West, I don’t believe we are at that level of friendship yet. Just accept that I do and move on,” Len encouraged. 

“Fine, what are her powers, least?” Iris asked. 

“Not my power to tell,” Len continued. “So please drop the questions about her.” 

“Fine, why didn’t you tell us about General Eiling?” Iris switched. 

“I didn’t tell you,” Len sighed. “I didn’t say anything about him because at the time, I wasn’t really welcome with Team Flash then Cisco ran me out. Do you really think Cisco or anyone that is skeptical of me would have believed me that I wasn’t involved? Especially since I’m the only one that has met him.” He leaned forward. “Can you see why I didn’t mention it?”

Iris grimaced. “Okay, I see what you mean. But you can’t keep things from us. They’re taking Metas, and most of my friends are Metas. You can’t be petty and keep things from us. You said you saw Mardon, why didn’t you do anything.” 

“I wasn’t being petty.” Len hissed. “I didn’t want to be threatened. I was in the back of Saints, with a military man with a visible firearm. Didn’t feel like getting myself shot,” Len growled. 

“Okay, fair,” Iris relented. 

Gideon sat back down at the table. “I didn’t miss anything did I?” she asked. 

“No, we were chatting,” Len assured her. 

“Good, I’ve contacted some of my people, they should get back to me soon. Are you both enjoying the meal?” Gideon asked. 

“It’s wonderful,” Iris assured. “Thank you for all of this.”

Len’s phone rang, it was Lisa’s ringtone. “Excuse me for a moment.” He stood up and moved a few steps away. “Lisa, I’m a little busy.”

“Lenny.” Len’s heart dropped when he heard Lisa’s voice. It was small and she sounded scared. 

“Lisa, what’s wrongs?” Len said. He stepped a little farther away from the table. He ignored Iris’s worried look. 

“I got a picture. Please Lenny,” she whispered, “you need to get home.” She sounded so young. 

“I’m on my way, I’m twenty-five minutes out. I’ll call Sara. Leave the door locked, she has a key,” he said quickly. 

“Please hurry,” she almost whimpered. And Len hated hearing her sound so frightened. 

“I will, I have to hang up to call Sara, I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Time me. Love you Lise,” Len said. 

“Love you, Lenny.” And with that she hung up. Len knew she started her timer. He was on the clock. 

He walked back to the table. “Gideon, I’m so sorry, I have to go, that was Lisa.” 

“Of course, Mr. Snart. We can continue later. It was nice to meet you, Miss West,” Gideon said. She stood up and Iris scrambled to stand as well. They shook hands and then she hugged Len. Gideon whispered, “If you need anything email me,” and then she pulled back. 

Len took off to the door. “Leonard, what’s wrong?” 

“Lisa needs me, Miss West, she comes first,” Len said harsher than he meant to. 

“I gathered. Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked. 

“Not unless you can get me home now,” Len muttered. He nodded to the hostess on his way out. 

“I could call Barry?” she offered.

“No,” he said harsher than he meant to. “No, I just need to make a call. I’m sure I’ll see you later,” he said and took out his phone. 

Sara picked up on the third ring. “Leonard hi!” she shouted. 

“Are you drunk?” Len almost growled. 

“No, no, nope. I’m tipsy,” Sara said. 

“Is that Snart?” he heard Ava yell. “I know him!” 

“Ava, though, Ava is drunk,” Sara conceded. 

“Lisa needs you, she’s panicking and I don’t know why and I don’t want her alone,” Len didn’t bother with preamble. “You need to get over to the apartment. Don’t forget your key.” 

“Shit, fuck. Okay. Ava! We’re going to go see Lisa!” Sara called. “How far out are you?”

Len checked his phone. “Twenty-six minutes. Time me.” 

“Lisa? I love Lisa!” Ava called. 

“Good, cause we’re going to see her. See you then Leonard,” Sara said. 

He hung up and hopped on his bike. Iris watched him go and Len didn’t like that she heard his conversation but there was nothing he could do about it. Len sped the whole way home. From when he first talked to Lisa to bursting through the front door it was a total of twenty-eight minutes. 

“Where is she?” Len asked. 

“Bathroom,” Sara said. “The door is locked.” She was leaning on the wall opposite the door.

Ava was sitting on the wall, next to the bathroom door. “What’s wrong with Lisa?” Ava asked. She blinked up at Len and Len just sighed. Normally Ava was cute when she was drunk, happy and playful which Sara would normally take advantage of. It was funny to see them play fight and somehow end up in the kitchen making out. No one knew how or why it was the kitchen but it always was. Mick’s theory was that’s where the most weapons were stored, and Len didn’t disagree. 

“Lise? Lise, I’m here, turn off the timer,” Len called through the door. “Call Mick, or text him tell him to stop screwing whoever he’s screwing and get back,” Len growled. 

Sara nodded and stepped out to call. “Lisa, stay away from the door, I’m coming in.” 

Ava looked over to him. “How? The door is locked.” 

“Oh, dear Sharpie, we can pick all the locks in this apartment,” Len mused. He quickly pulled out his wallet. He had a small lock pick kit in his wallet.

“You’re not Constance, you can’t call me that,” she pouted. Len couldn’t help but chuckle as he unlocked the door. 

It clicked and Len slowly opened the door. “Lise, it’s me,” he said and pushed the door open. Lisa was in the bathtub. She was clutching her intricate pocket knife. Len had gotten her that for her birthday years ago. The blade was open and pointed at the door.

“Lenny?” She didn’t drop the knife but she scrambled out of the tub and into his arms. “Lenny, I got, I got a picture, it was, it, it, it was me,” she stuttered. 

“Shh, shh, don’t worry about it right now,” Len murmured. 

“Hey Lisa,” Sara cooed. “I called him. He said he’ll be over in a few.” 

Len nodded. “Lisa.” Len pulled back. “Let me see your wrists. Did you use the knife?” Len asked gently taking her wrists. Just because the knife was clean now didn’t mean it had been all night.

“No, no Lenny. I was, I was, I was just, just holding it,” Lisa assured. Her face was tear streaked and her hair was barely in her ponytail. She let him look at her wrists. 

“Good. Good.” Len gently ran his thumb over her wrists. Sara sat against the door and held Ava’s hand. They sat there quietly for a few minutes, their breathing the only sounds. 

They heard the front door open. “Doll? Boss?” Mick called. 

“Bathroom,” Len called back. There was an affirmative grunt then movement around the kitchen. Hopefully Mick was making hot coco, that always helped calm her down. 

“We can, we can get up now,” Lisa whispered. 

“Only if you’re sure,” Len said. Lisa nodded and Len helped her up. Sara did the same with Ava. They let the siblings go first. “Sara, could you get Lise some comfy clothes?” Len realized he was still in his suit but he could deal with that later. 

“Of course, Ava, let’s go chill on the couch I’ll be right back,” Sara said. She directed her girlfriend towards the couch. Ava went willing and Sara ran, or more fast walked to get the clothes. 

“Here.” Mick handed her a cup of hot coco, with mini marshmallows. She sipped it until Sara came back with some gray sweats and a golden comfy sweatshirt. 

“I’ll be right back,” she assured and went to change. She was out in two minutes, knife still in hand. She sat at the island and sipped her coco. 

Len stood behind her and undid her hair. He then redid it in a loose ponytail. “You wanna tell us what happened?” Len asked. He moved to her side and made sure their elbows were touching. 

“No, not really,” she murmured into the coco. Then she shook her head. “I got photos.” Then she looked at the ground. “Where, where did they go?” she whispered. 

“Here.” Sara scooped them off the coffee table. “They were right in the entrance so I moved them.” She handed them to Leonard. 

Lisa looked away. “We had just gotten back from the movies. Cisco vibed me home first then he was going to take Hartley home. I grabbed the mail and came inside.” She took a steadying breath. “I had just shut the door when I saw the envelope addressed to me. And without thinking I opened it.” 

Len gritted his teeth at the photos in his hands. They were Lisa, at Jitters, in different outfits meaning this clearly hadn’t been a one-day thing. But it was the last few photos that really worried him. Two of the photos had either Hartley or Cisco in them as well. In those Lisa had been circled and an ‘X’ was drawn over the boys. Another photo had all three of them and the boys were scribbled out.

But it was the last three that froze Len cold. One of them was her and the Flash. Barry had a target over his heart and Lisa had been ‘X’ed out. The next was of Len and Lisa. They were walking by Jitters, it appeared to be right after the Ralph incident. And it wasn’t taken from outside. It was taken from Jitters itself. From the line judging by how close the picture was. And the last one was taken today. Lisa was wearing the same clothes she’d just changed out of and she was heading into S.T.A.R. Labs. The only thing on this was ‘Soon.’ 

Len took a breath and sat them face down, which only revealed a message on the back of last picture. “Thanks for showing me where the freaks hang out. Be seein ya soon, Goldilocks.” 

Lisa had been blonde when she and Roscoe started dating. And even after she’d gone back to dark hair he’d liked her better as a blonde and kept the nickname Goldilocks. 

“We need to tell Team Flash about this,” Lisa said, breaking the silence. “If you really are working with them then they need to know.” Her voice was soft but it had lost the frightened edge. 

“Tomorrow. I’ll call off work and we’ll talk to them,” Len relented. This was getting ridiculous. They needed to get a strategy in place to continue. “It’s late, and worrying about them tonight will just throw us off.” 

“Will you need us? Because I want to pass on the message to the Legends to be extra careful. And to keep an eye out. If that’s okay?” Sara offered. 

“They’re Metas or totem users. They should be informed. But could you give us a day or so? We don’t want a panic on campus. That may just cause more problems.” Len shook his head. “More people know than I’m comfortable with as it is.” Twelve people. Or at least twelve that were actively involved not counting Thawne or Gideon. 

Len didn’t want to worry the others with another speedster but Barry needed to be brought up to speed, pun intended, as soon as possible. He would talk to him after the meet up. “I’ll text Barry we all need to meet. Who all were we thinking?”

“Cisco and Hartley, obviously. Since they seem to be targeted because of me,” Lisa muttered. 

“It’s not because of you,” Len said immediately. “But you’re right. Allen, Miss West, and Miss Snow should also be there.” Mick perked up at that but didn’t comment so Len tucked it away for later. 

“Felicity has been doing the tech stuff and searching, so should she be there?” Lisa asked. 

“Yes, probably. Which will mean Queen will be there too,” Len sneered. He turned to Sara. “You two are welcome to be there as well.”

“We’ll pass,” Sara said. “We’re not Metas, and we don’t seem to have been targeted. We’ll do some recon and report back.” 

“Yes! Like spies!” Ava assured. 

Her happiness caught Lisa off guard and she barked out a laugh. “Thanks Ava, you’re the best.” 

“Good job babe.” Sara patted her head. “I think that’s our cue to head out.” She walked over and tapped Lisa on the shoulder. Lisa turned and gave her a tight hug. “Don’t forget what I said I’m always down to kick someone’s ass, just let me know.” 

“Samezes,” Ava slurred. She wrapped her arms around Lisa and Sara. 

“I’ll walk you to your dorm,” Len said grabbing a coat. 

“You don’t have to,” Sara said. “We’re only a few minutes away.” 

“Exactly. Won’t take me long. And with her like that I’d rather you not be out this late without a weapon,” Len countered. He grabbed his cold gun. 

“Sara’s a weapon,” Ava said. She booped Sara softly on the nose. “A weapon of mass seduction,” she staged whispered. 

Sara chuckled and Lisa ‘aww’ed while Mick just rolled his eyes. “Let’s get you home and in bed.” Sara placed a delicate kiss on her lips. 

“Be back in a few,” Len called as they left. It was a short walk and Len didn’t actually need to go with them but he needed to get out of there and clear his mind. He wasn’t going to go ice something although he figured it would help calm him but he didn’t want to be gone for longer than was necessary.

He said good night to Sara and Ava headed back. He did stop at one of the benches when something red caught him eye. When he turned it was actually red and blue. Red and blue lightning to be exact. Thawne and Zoom. They were out far enough he barely caught a look. “That is tomorrow’s problem,” he muttered. He wouldn’t say he ran home but he definitely left quickly. 

He sent a text to Sara saying he was home safe and went to his room where he found Mick and Lisa. Lisa was curled up in the middle of the bed, already asleep. Mick was not. 

He blinked up at Len, who did not turn on the lights. “The doll didn’t want to be alone,” he whispered. 

Len nodded, he’d expected something like that. And it was pretty much confirmed when both their doors were open. Len didn’t say anything just slipped into some sleeping clothes and got in on the other side of Lisa. He was out as soon his head it the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lisa's being stalked and gets pictures of her. This sends her into a panic attack. Len finds her with a pocket knife in the bathroom and checks her wrists, there are no new cuts. 
> 
> Real quick, I've never been stalked but I have past experience with cutting, I've gotten help and I'm better now, and I've dealt with anxiety attacks by holding a pocket knife. Even if I didn't do anything with it. It was there if I needed it. So I'm trying to write that as real and authentic as I can. We'll get some of Lisa's perspective in the next chapter but I just wanted to focus on Len this time.
> 
> That being said, thank you all for reading! I've updated the tags. Next chapter will be the meeting! Yay!! And Len and Barry interacting! Yay! Let me know what you thought about Gideon. I wanted to do something with time for her power so I thought it would be cool, lol pun intended. Sorry this is longer than I meant to make it. Let me know what you thought! I promise I'm not just throwing in villains, they have a purpose! Also, side note, there are no OCs, and Hannah is actually someone, ten points if you know who, that will be coming up in the next few chapters.


	7. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash meeting! Team Thawne meeting? Meeting Gary?? Team Snart meeting!! Basically just a lot of meetings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I started on my master's degree... It is taking up a lot more time than I thought it would. So updates will be slower. Not 5-6 weeks slower more like 2-3 weeks. I just did not like this chapter. It needed to happen but it wasn't in my outline and I didn't like it. Anyways, I'm happy as I can be with it.
> 
> Warnings! References to self-harm and stalking!

When Lisa woke up in the morning she was still tucked between Mick and Len. She thought back to last night. The day with Cisco and Hartley had been really nice. After cheering Hartley up Cisco seemed a little warmer with him. It seemed seeing Hartley not as a confident rival and just a peer seemed to open him up. 

They decided to go to the mall then get dinner then go to the movie. There was a nice-ish restaurant Hartley took them to. Lisa figured he wanted to make some new memories at the locations he knew from his parents. Lisa didn’t bring it up and neither did Cisco.

Cisco paid for the meals, all of them despite their protests. Lisa and Hartley paid for the movies, despite Cisco’s protests. They sat with Cisco in the middle because Lisa insisted she wasn’t going to Hartley’s snarky comments the whole time. They watched some comedy that Hartley mocked most of the time while Cisco and Lisa laughed at. Occasionally Cisco would snark right alongside Hartley and Lisa would shush them and throw popcorn at them. 

It was a good night. Cisco dropped her off and she kissed him on the cheek before grabbing the mail and heading inside. She didn’t realize what she was looking at, at first. When she realized it was picture of herself she dropped them and bolted to her room. 

It didn’t register to grab her gold gun. She grabbed her pocket knife, the one she’d stabbed Roscoe with before calling the cops. Her room had a window, the bathroom did not. She ran in there and shut and locked the door. 

When she called Len, she hated how scared she sounded, she was an adult, and he wasn’t there, she should have been fine. But she was not. He assured her he would be there in less than thirty minutes. She timed him. It was an old trick they used to do when he was on a job with their dad. 

Len made her time them so she would know when they would be getting back. It worked most of the time, when Lewis wasn’t an idiot. Len and Lisa got good at factoring in time for the contingency, Len didn’t need that time. 

She snapped the knife open when she heard the front door open. Sara and Ava announced themselves but Lisa couldn’t bring herself to open the door. She didn’t doubt Sara could bust down the door but Lisa assured her she was alive and it wasn’t necessary to come in, she would just wait for Lenny. 

Sara didn’t sound convinced but didn’t break down the door so Lisa counted it as a win. She didn’t know how long she was there. She zoned out sometimes, Shawna called it disassociation, but she liked the term ‘zoning out’ more. Made it feel less serious. 

Lenny arrived just like he said he would. His voice brought her back in time to click the timer off. As soon as the door was open and she saw him she felt safe. Throwing herself in his arms hadn’t been the plan but oh well. 

She’d come back to herself and they discussed the pictures. Lisa felt sick to her stomach but she stayed and listened and even contributed a little. When Len went to take Sara and Ava home she glanced at Mick. He put her cup in the sink and took her hand. 

He must’ve been worried if he took her to Lenny’s room without prompting. When she was younger and they found out about her cutting her wrists they would sleep with her in the middle to make sure she wasn’t going to sneak off and cut. When she stopped that stopped as well. When she had a particularly bad attack they would either sleep like that again, more of a comfort thing, or on the rare occasions she wanted to be left alone Mick could usually be found sleeping on the couch and Len would be in front of her door. No one slept well when that happened. 

Now it was morning and they were going to have to have a meeting with Team Flash. Lisa wouldn’t lie, she was excited to see Cisco again, and Hartley if she were honest with herself. She just wasn’t sure what all was going to be said. It seemed a hesitant companionship had formed but they hadn’t all been in the same room yet. 

She shifted and it must have been enough for Len. He blinked awake at her. “Morning, sleep well?” he asked. His voice was rough in that ‘morning unused’ way that Mick used to tease as a ‘sex voice if you ever actually got laid’ and Len would flick him off and they’d continue whatever they were doing. 

“Yep, you?” she asked. He just nodded. 

“I slept great too,” Mick grumbled. “Thanks for asking.” 

Lisa laughed. “I was getting to you Mick!” she assured. 

He made a noncommittal noise. “Well good, I’m going to be getting to pancakes. Did ya let Flash and Friends know about the meeting, Boss?” Mick asked. He rolled out of the bed and Lisa immediately rolled into his spot. 

“I’m doing that here in a minute. Figured late last night wasn’t the best time to tell them about it,” Len said. Mick grunted and headed out the door. “You really okay, Lise?” 

“I will be Lenny. Promise.” She rolled out of bed. “Now come on. You know if we’re not in there, Mick won’t make us pancakes,” she teased. Len grumbled again but she paid him no mind as she when to get dressed. 

She hopped in the shower before getting dressed. She felt like she needed to just wash the week away. But she also knew Len needed it so she kept it brief. After that she put on light jeans and dark shirt that was bedazzled to say “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” She kept her hair down after blow drying it and walked in to smell blueberry pancakes. 

Mick was still making them even though there was a stack on the counter. Lenny could cook but Mick was a true chef. He just didn’t care about it, which is why Len learned to cook. He’d been awful but when they were little they’d gotten used to Mick’s cooking then he’d disappear for a bit and Len would have to take over. 

“Mick, yes, you are a blessing,” Lisa said. She didn’t waste any time, just grabbed a few on a plate and got to it. 

A few minutes later Len walked out. “Shower’s all your buddy.” Mick gave a grunt and finished the last of the mix out before he left. Len raised an eyebrow at the number of pancakes on her plate. 

She glared and used her arm to block it from view. “Hey, don’t judge me. Panicking takes a lot out of you,” she huffed. And really, four wasn’t that many. 

Len had the decency to look slightly guilting. They ate in compatible silence why Mick showered and got dressed. It was only when he came back out did Len speak up again. 

“Felicity and Queen aren’t able to make it. But Iris and Barry have said everyone else involved will be there,” he said absently checking his phone. 

“Oh? Iris and Barry?” Lisa asked, somewhat mischievously. 

“What?” Len looked up at her. 

“Nothing, nothing.” She waved him off. “What are we telling them?” she asked. 

“Everything,” Len answered almost immediately. “As long as you’re comfortable with that.”

“I am. Cisco and Hartley need to know and Barry and the rest can help. Working against each other isn’t working,” Lisa said. “Honestly I’m surprised it hasn’t come to blows yet.” Then she winced and looked at Len. “Or, more blows I guess.” 

“That’s the past. As long as they keep it there,” Len assured her. Lisa knew what he meant. Forgive, but don’t forget. As long as nothing went wrong they would all be fine. 

After Mick was done they headed to STAR Labs. Hartley had texted to meet in the lobby. They walked in on Cisco and Hartley whispering to each other. 

“And I’m telling you that if we do that it will explode and I’m not going to lose a hand,” Hartley hissed. 

Lisa cleared her throat. They both looked up and Cisco broke into a grin and Hartley’s smirk could almost be considered a smile. “Welp, the gang’s all here. Where we going, cutie?” she asked. She slid next to Cisco, forcing him closer to Hartley in turn. 

“Oh, yeah, right, you guys haven’t been up yet,” Cisco said. He smiled and gently tugged Lisa to the elevator.

“I didn’t tell them Ramon, just like you asked,” Hartley said. He gently forced his way up next to him.

Cisco rolled his eyes. “Thanks Hartley,” he said sarcastically. Though it was more teasing than normal. 

Hartley just puffed himself up in response. Lisa rolled her eyes. Cisco took out a key card and swiped it next to the elevator. But instead of the elevator opening the door next to it opened. She caught Len eyeing the key and smiled at him. She was so going to get that key later.

They walked down a slight ramp and into a monitor room. “Welcome to the Cortex. We, and by that, I mean Team Flash and sometimes Team Arrow needed a place to set up base and Wells had this secret floor that he let us use. It’s between the ground floor and the next one down,” Cisco explained as they walked in. 

“And why did Wells just have a spare floor that he lets you borrow?” Len drawled. 

“Best not to ask too many questions, Mr. Snart,” Wells said, startling them. He stepped from around the monitor he was bent over. “Don’t worry, I’m not staying.” He walked past them. “Ms. Snart, I’ll see you tomorrow. Your paperwork was processed yesterday.” 

Lisa smiled and nodded and then Wells was gone. Len turned sharply to her. “Paperwork?” he demanded. 

“I’m working here now. With Cisco and Hartley. It helps with tuition and any over time is paid directly to me and from what Hart and Cisco say there will be overtime,” Lisa explained briefly. 

Len grumbled something she didn’t catch and she went to stand by Cisco. Caitlin popped up from behind the monitor next to Wells’s. “Okay, I’ve saved our data. We can begin,” she said. She stood on the other side of Cisco. And if Lisa didn’t know any better she’d say Caitlin stuck her nose up at her. But of course, she knew better and wouldn’t need to retaliate. 

“So,” Barry began. He moved to the center of the room to look at them all. “Just so we’re all on the same page, this meetup is to catch everyone up on the missing Metas. So, um, where should we start?” He moved back to stand next to Iris. Hartley was in between Len and Lisa somehow.

Lisa glanced at Cisco. And Cisco sighed. “I guess I’ll start since Felicity’s not here.” And he started about how he and Felicity first found the glitches, and then they had an incomplete list of names. He rattled off the list from his phone, two of Barry’s friends, Clyde, and two people she didn’t recognize. He wasn’t sure if others had been taken and not reported or if they just hadn’t been reported yet. 

Then he talked about the military number Len had. How it didn’t exist and the shadowy branch of the military it was attached to seemed fine on the surface. He told them it took some serious digging for it to start to fall apart. 

This is where Len took over. He explained how he’d met General Wade Eiling and actually saw Clyde after he’d gone missing. Then he explained how Eiling had tranquilized him and a team drug him off. 

Cisco muttered something about, “That would’ve been nice to know while we were looking,” and Lisa elbowed him to shut him up. Len shot them a look but didn’t say anything. Lisa had a suspicion that wasn’t the full story but there was no way she was going to confront him in front of everyone. 

Then he talked about meeting with a contact for dinner last night. And when Iris chimed in Barry looked between the two of them. “Wait, you guys met with his contact?” Barry stopped him.

“Yeah, Bear,” Iris said putting a hand on his shoulder. “It was just dinner, we were perfectly safe.” 

Lisa had to hold back a snicker. She was sure Gideon would have words if it got out she was ‘safe.’ But they hadn’t said her name so she could let it slide. 

“Wait, you guys had dinner? When?” Barry continued. 

“You can’t tell dad,” Iris said immediately. “When I said I was going out with Eddie last night I was actually meeting Leonard,” she admitted. “I know dad doesn’t like Eddie but I’m sure he wouldn’t like Leonard more. Please Bear, our secret?” 

“Now, Miss West,” Len drawled. “I had no idea I was going to be your dirty little secret.” He had a grin on his face that told Lisa he was enjoying the confusion on Barry’s face. “But don’t worry it was just dinner. Miss West’s honor is still intact.” 

Barry sputtered like he was trying to come up with a response. He was failing and honestly turning bright red in the process. Iris moved in between them and smacked Len’s arm lightly. Then rested it on his shoulder. It looked a little more familiar than Lisa was comfortable with. “Oh hush, we did get another name,” Iris said with a roll of her eyes. 

“That we did. Dr. Valentina Vostok,” Len announced. He glanced at Iris’s hand on his shoulder then to Iris’s face, Lisa was ure she and Mick were the only ones that could read the confusion there, then he settled on Barry. Lisa did the same. It looked like Barry was trying to watch them subtly but was failing at it.

“Vostok?” Caitlin said speaking up for the first time. “I think I know that name,” she muttered and sat at one of the computers. After a few clicks a picture pulled up on screen. “I do, she was a leading biologist in Starling. She moved to Central about seven years ago after it was discovered she was doing genetic testing illegally.” 

“What kinds of testing?” Hartley asked. Lisa forced herself not to jump, he was a lot closer than he just had been. 

“The Meta Gene. All the participants were willing and the only thing that died were animals so it didn’t make a big splash as if she’d been experimenting and the people had died,” Caitlin explained. “She wasn’t disgraced or anything she just moved to Central. She worked at Mercury Labs for a bit then she quit and it now says she’s a contractor with the military.” 

“Well, now we know for sure why the Meta’s are being taken,” Len mused grimly. 

“Apparently Eiling didn’t want to wait for willing applicants,” Barry sneered. 

“I mean, it makes sense. He’s been targeting strong Metas,” Lisa said. “But they’re still high risk. Which brings us to the final piece of information you guys need.” She then briefly explained Roscoe and brought the pictures out of her purse to show them.

Cisco sucked in a breath and Hartley bristled. They seemed to move closer to her. “Pretty sure him and our father, Lewis, are working with Eiling. It would make sense why he had those two Metas,” Lisa said. 

“Hunter said he wasn’t a Meta,” Iris piped up.

“People can lie, Miss West. And I didn’t recognize him. It’s likely he was a Meta and just didn’t want to tell us,” Len said. He had to resist rolling his eyes. 

“Why would he do that?” Barry asked. 

“Think about it. If you were injured around people you didn’t know, who claimed to be Human, and had just gotten away from Humans that were going to sell you would you admit to being a Meta?” Lisa asked. She gently bumped shoulders with both Cisco then Hartley.

“No, no I guess I wouldn’t,” Barry admitted. Iris patted his shoulder.

“Allen, a word please?” Len said. He nodded his head toward the hallway. “Alone,” Len said when Iris started to follow.

“Why?” Iris demanded. “I thought after dinner we were fine, Leonard.”

“We are. But this is a slightly different matter,” Len said with a smile. Lisa watched him closely. Something was going on and she was so going to press him on it later. Mick was also watching them but he kept sneaking glances at Caitlin. That she was going to follow up on too. 

“Hey,” Cisco said softly. “You okay?” 

Lisa smiled. “I’m as okay as I can be. I had a small panic attack last night but I’ll be okay. And I’m sorry.” She looked at both of them. “I’m sorry to both of you.” 

“Why?” Hartley asked. He seemed a little startled. 

“You have targets on your backs now because of me. Roscoe and Lewis were after me and Len and now you’re in him sights. I never wanted that. I mean I wish they’d get lost forever but I especially didn’t want to endanger you two.” Lisa shook her head and crossed her arms, slouching a bit. “I really like hanging out with you guys but I understand if you’d want me to stay away.” 

Cisco made a strangled noise and Hartley scoffed. “You think this ass bag is going to scare us off, he’s got another thing coming,” Hartley assured her. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. 

Cisco put an arm around her and pulled her into a half hug. “Oh, yeah. You are not getting rid of us that easily. We’ll get this guy and you’ll be safe.”

“Oh, you guys are the best!” Lisa cried. She pulled them both into a hug. Her heart did a little flip at the fact they were talking as a unit and not individuals. 

Hartley stiffened and Cisco made a small yelp but hugged her back. After a moment Hartley relaxed and hugged her as well. Her only thought was it was a Lisa sandwich with Cisco and Hartley buns and she was okay with that. 

Len led Barry out into the hall and a bit farther away before stopping. “There’s something else I need to tell you,” Len began.

“Then why didn’t you say it in there with everyone?” Barry asked. He glanced back at the Cortex door. 

“Because this seems like it might be a personal matter. There’s another speedster.” Barry’s mouth dropped open. “Apparently he’s an experiment that the military was successful with. According to Thawne-“ 

“You’ve talked to Thawne about this?” Barry demanded. He took an unconscious step towards Len, and Len refused to back down, which put Barry in his personal space. 

“I’ve seen this speedster more than once, and Thawne knew he was there. He approached me about it, not the other way around. Goes by the name of Zoom,” Len explained. 

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me about this,” Barry deflated. 

“He could have been wanting to protect you. You’re, apparently, not fast enough to beat this thing in a fight and he probably figured you’d go right after him if you knew,” Len guessed. He had no idea if that was what Thawne thought, but that’s why he wouldn’t tell Barry. 

“I’ve got to talk to Thawne,” Barry growled. 

Len grabbed his arm. “Take me with you,” Len urged. “I’ve seen this speedster more than anyone and I can help, but I’m only going to tell you if Thawne is there.” 

“Why?” Barry asked. He glanced down at the hand on his arm but didn’t pull away. 

“Because if Thawne doesn’t think you’re fast enough to beat this thing then, until I have proof otherwise, I’ve going to believe him. And our dear friend the General has contacted me, I’m in the middle of this, despite how much I don’t want to be,” Len explained. 

“Fine, you have a point.” Barry sped back to the Cortex. “Len and I will be back later.” Then he was back in front of him. “Let’s go.” 

“Barry!” Iris called as Lisa called, “Lenny!” Len caught just a glimpse of them running into the hall before the world was a rush of colors. 

Barry sat him down in front of Thawne’s office door. He waited for his stomach to catch up as Barry opened the door. “Thawne!” Barry roared as he barged in.

Len followed Barry in and froze as well. “Please shut the door, I figured you’d be in here sooner or later,” Thawne said. He was shirtless, which was weird enough, but there were bandages wrapped around his chest. And bloody bandages on the desk. And both his eyes were black. And his arm was wrapped from above the elbow to the wrist.

“What, what happen?” Barry asked. Len watched the kid’s ire melt away. 

“Does it have anything to do with the speedster battle you were fighting last night?” Len asked. He shut the door and leaned on it. 

“You saw that?” Thawne asked. Then he shook his head. “Of course, you did. How are you always in the middle of things?” 

“You fought him?” Barry cried. 

“You told him?” Len just shrugged. “Well, I guess that’s why you’re here.” He stood up straight. “What’s your questions? I’m sure you have them.”

“How long have you known about him?” Barry asked. 

“How long have the Metas been going missing? Because it’s about that long. I saw General Eiling, he and I used to be colleagues, and he made some vague threats, which are really just par for the course then made some allusions to finally being able to keep up with me.” His face twisted into a bitter sneer. “I did some digging and found rumors about Zoom. Little bit more digging and they weren’t just rumors. Last night was the first time Zoom’s confronted me though.” 

“How do we beat him?” Barry asked immediately.

“We don’t. He’s too fast, as evidence by my multiple injuries.” Thawne gestured to himself with the hand that was not wrapped. 

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Since I’ve become the target of multiple speedsters,” he gave them each a hard look, “I had a little insurance made.” He pulled the cold gun out of a holster. “I’m still working on where to keep it.”

Both the speedsters backed up. “What is that?” Thawne asked. His voice was carefully guarded. 

“This is a cold gun. Cold is the opposite of speed, and it seemed appropriate.” He held it up for them to see. But when Thawne reached for it, he pulled it back. “Uh-uh, this is mine. Sorry if I don’t trust you Professor but if someone just showed me something that could hurt specifically me, I’d want to get my hands on it too.” 

“Clever. But how do you know it works, or actually how does it work?” Thawne said. Now looking at him with just a touch more respect. 

“Because I’ve shot it. You just point and shoot,” Len said with smirk. “But as far as I know it gets whatever the beam touches to absolute zero.” 

“That’s impossible. Absolute zero can’t be reached,” Barry said. He eyed the gun warily, he actually hadn’t taken his eyes off it. 

“Maybe for some people. But my source is very good.” Len pointed the weapon at the wall. 

“Who’s your source? Ramon?” Thawne guessed. “No, no, he wouldn’t do something to hurt Barry.” Thawne paused for a moment, then snapped. “Rathaway!” Suddenly Len was against the wall with both his hands pinned above him in Thawne’s crushing grip and the gun in his wrapped hand. “How do you plan on using this when we can disarm you so easily?” 

Len grunted but didn’t fight. He’d been expecting something like this. “That’s why I’m telling you both. I can’t take him down on my own.” He leaned forward to get right into Thawne’s face, even with his arms pinned. “Neither can you, and,” he nodded towards Barry, “neither can he. But together, we’ve got a shot.”

“Let him go, Thawne,” Barry finally said. He pulled Thawne back and grabbed the gun. “Do you have a plan?” he asked. Thawne sneered at the gun and rested his hand on Barry’s back.

Len held out his hand for the gun then raised an eyebrow. After a moment’s hesitation Barry handed him the gun. “I have one. It’s simple. I call General Eiling saying I’ve got a Meta for him, he brings Zoom to grab the Meta and go, and that Meta will be Barry.” 

“What?” Barry yelped. He took a surprised step back. 

Thawne held up a finger to Barry’s lips. “Let him finish.” 

“You’ll be hiding in wherever we decide to meet. When Zoom shows up to take Barry you’ll come out and distract. He’ll be distracted and I’ll shoot,” Len explained. 

“How do you not hit me, or us really?” Thawne asked. Thawne pulled Barry tighter against him.

“I may not be able to miss you. But unless I concentrate the blast on you, your speed healing should mean there is no permanent damage,” Len offered. 

“Should?” Barry huffed. 

“Yes, should, unless you want to test it out I won’t know,” Len scoffed. 

“Actually,” Thawne said, “we should test it out.” 

Both men turned to him in shock, “What?” 

“Really Barry, we would need this plan to go down without a hitch.” Thawne turned to face him. “And since out of the two of us you are the weaker speedster, if you’re able to recover.” He took a step at Barry, forcing him to step back. He kept going until Barry was against the wall. “Then I’ll have no problem.” He was nearly pressed up against Barry and basically whispered it in his ear. 

Barry’s turned his head away, refusing to look at either of them, but it wouldn’t have mattered, his eyes were squeezed shut. He clenched his jaw tight and Len could see the tension in his shoulders. 

Len didn’t think, which was not like him, as he raised the gun and shot Thawne in the back. He cried out and fell against Barry. It was only a short blast to the small of his back. “Or we could keep it authentic. You’re the one who’ll be fighting Zoom. Barry will be guarding me against any other cronies Eiling might have.” Barry pushed Thawne off him and in a blink, he was next to Len. 

“Son of a bitch,” Thawne growled. He used the wall as support, and turned to face them.

Len raised the gun threateningly. “Don’t insult my mother like that.” His voice was cool, the kind he used when dealing with the Santinis or his father. “Now, it’s my gun which means my rules. I’m the one with the plan and the contact number to Eiling, we do this my way or I’ll leave you in the cold.” He smirked. 

“Oh puns, the lowest form of humor,” Thawne huffed. “Fine. That’s how you want to play it. Your gun, your rules. Let’s just hope nothing goes wrong. I’d hate for anyone to get hurt. Now get out. You’ve got planning to do.” He stood up with effort and pushed them out the door. It slammed behind them.

“No running, you and I need to talk,” Len said before Barry could whisk them away. 

“Thought we were going to do that Wednesday?” Barry muttered. But he followed Len to the elevator. 

“You still want to have dinner on Wednesday?” Len asked. He pressed the button and turned to Barry. 

“Yeah, I was hoping we could. I know this is a lot and you are apparently risking more than I thought you were.” Len just shrugged. “So, you’ll still come to dinner?” 

“Why, Allen, it’s almost as if you care,” Len purred. They stepped into the elevator with Barry blushing as red as his suit. “Well, well, well, scarlet really is a good look on you,” Len teased. His phone dinged.

Barry glanced away. “You’re risking a lot, I just want to show some gratitude. Why didn’t you want to tell the others about Zoom?” 

“And you can absolutely do that.” Len glanced up from his phone. “Speedsters are your thing. I didn’t want Ramon taking my gun. And I didn’t know if Thawne would agree. Take your pick.” He looked back at his phone and stopped. “Sara’s got a lock on the photo. I’m gonna meet her. Tell the others I’ll be there in a few,” Len said absently. He replied to meet by the library.

“I’ll come with you. This needs to stop,” Barry offered. “Would you be okay with me telling the others?” 

Len would’ve protested if he thought it would have done anything. “About Zoom? Like I said, you’re the speed guy. Just make it clear to Ramon I’m not giving up my gun.” He saw the blondes waiting by the steps with a dopey looking guy in between them. 

“Who’s that?” Len said. He eyed the kid up and down. 

“This is Gary, he’s in the photography club. Say hi Gary,” Sara instructed with a smirk. 

“Hi,” Gary said with a nervous wave. 

“Did he take the photos?” Len asked. He took a half step forward and Gary shrank back. 

Ava put out her arm to block him. “No, he didn’t.” 

“But I’m pretty sure I know who did,” he said. “Lisa was in Hannibal’s photo of Jitters but she wasn’t the focus of that one. It looked like she just happened to be there but she was wearing the same outfit as one of the stalker photos. And it was from roughly the same spot,” Gary explained. 

“Good, Hannibal who?” Len pressed. 

“Bates, Hannibal Bates. He’s a Meta in the club,” Gary said. 

“Meta? What’s his powers?” The last name sounded familiar but Len couldn’t think why. 

“Oh, he’s a shapeshifter. He’s usually our model when we need one,” Gary said. The dopey smile was back. 

That’s how Len knew the name. “Where does Bates live?” 

“Oh, I can’t say that. I’m the Vice President. I can’t just go around revealing classified information.” He sounded scandalize. 

“Oh yes you can,” Sara said. She stopped leaning on the wall and grabbed his arm. “I got this, guys. I’ll text you the location.” She pulled him in the direction of the art building. 

“Oh, don’t hurt Gary he’s just a freshman,” Ava groaned. But she followed after her girlfriend. 

“Yes, please don’t hurt Gary,” he himself squeaked. Sara just smirked at him.

“Should we be worried? Or, like, interfere?” Barry asked. He watched them direct Gary into the building, it was right next to the library. 

“No, he’ll be fine,” Len muttered. “Probably.” Then he shook his head. “Let’s get back to the others.” Len barely finished that sentence before the world was a blur and they were back in the Cortex. 

Lisa and Hartley and Cisco were huddled around one of the monitors. Both of them had a hand on Lisa’s back and if their hands were touching no one was going say anything. Iris and Caitlin appeared to have cornered Mick. They each had a clipboard out. But Iris appeared to be interviewing him while Caitlin’s seemed to be more medical. 

“You’re back!” Iris nearly yelped. 

“Yeah, and we’ve got a name on your stalker, Hannibal Bates,” Len turned to Lisa. “Tonight, Mick and I will handle it, then he won’t be a problem anymore.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Mick grunted. He stepped around the girls and over to Len’s side. 

“Whoa, hey, that sounded permanent. Let’s not do anything rash,” Barry said from Len’s other side. 

“It won’t be rash,” Len said. Mick couldn’t hold back the howl of laughter as Barry sputtered for a response. 

“I think it was the permanent part he was worried about,” Caitlin said. “There’s no need for killing.” 

“Your alter ego is literally Killer Frost,” Lisa huffed. “Besides, if anyone gets to end this creep it’s me.” 

“No!” Cisco squeaked at the same time Hartley said, “Seems fair.” Cisco glared at him and Hartley just shrugged. 

“No killing,” Iris said. “You’re better than that.” 

“Not when someone threatens my family, Miss West,” Len snapped. 

“If you kill I’ll be forced to stop you,” Barry said quietly, almost like it was regretful. 

Len’s lip twitched but he just took a breath“Fine, Scarlet, no killing,” Len relented. “Wouldn’t want you to do anything uncomfortable,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Now, if you don’t mind, I think the three of us will have a late lunch.”

“Could we join you?” Iris asked.

“No,” Mick grunted. 

Lisa skipped over to them and hooked an arm around theirs. “Family only,” Lisa said in a sugary sweet voice. 

“You heard ‘em,” Len said. He tugged on Lisa’s arm and they exited the Cortex. 

“Think they’re going to follow us?” Lisa mused when they were back in the normal part of the building. 

“They’ll try,” Mick grumbled. 

“Don’t worry. We know how to spot if we’re being tailed,” Len mused. “They don’t know how to hide.” 

Lisa sighed, “And yet someone is stalking me. How did I not notice?” 

“Oh right, Hannibal Bates, he’s a shape shifter,” Len said. Barry would probably be filling in the rest of Team Flash, and Hartley Len remembers almost regretfully, on what they learned. “Let’s get some lunch and I’ll fill you both in.” 

They went back to the apartment. And Mick cooked some hamburgers as Len explained the situation with Zoom. And immediately had to stop while both Lisa and Mick shouted, “What!” 

So, Len followed it up with an explanation of the plan. Neither were happy about it. Len promised to include them when the plan actually went down. He wanted to hammer out some details with Barry before the plan actually needed to be put in place. 

A ding from his phone caught his attention. ‘No Garys were hurt in getting this address : )’ then an address. “Well, we now have the address,” Len said holding up the phone. 

“So, lunch then a little old fashion B an’ E?” Lisa asked mischievously. 

“I’m thinking we case the place and if he’s there then we knock and just have a chat, if he’s not there, then we’ll wait for him,” Len assured her. 

“Do I get to burn him?” Mick grunted. 

“Don’t count on it, but don’t count it out yet,” Len mused. 

They ate lunch and discussed how they were going to get in. If any of the doors were open they’re job would be easy. If it wasn’t then Lisa would get to have some fun. This wasn’t a time sensitive operation so Lisa could pick the lock, normally Len did that. 

They pulled up blue prints of the building and security footage. They didn’t see Lewis or Roscoe but Len did see a semi-familiar female. Len had muttered, “Sometimes I hate being right,” and waved the confused looks from Lisa and Mick away. 

They decided to wait until later to get in. Really the only small hiccup was the fact you had to be buzzed in. But they were ways around that. Including buzzing the elderly neighbor and telling her they were there to drop off something while Bates was at work. 

Which was how they ended up at his door with Lisa picking both locks in twenty-eight seconds. Len nodded in approval as she opened the door. It was a simple design and sparsely furnished. 

Len casually walked towards the bedroom and when he opened the closet he just sighed. He saw Lisa rooting around in the bathroom and Mick was in the kitchen. 

“Bates should be back a little after five,” Len announced. 

“What? How do you know?” Lisa poked her head out of the bathroom. 

“Because, my dear sister, I’m not often wrong,” he teased with a coy grin.

“Jerk.” 

“Train wreck.” 

She huffed and pulled out a chair and sat down. She pulled out her gun and laid it on the table. Len followed suit next to her at the head of the table and Mick to his left. 

They waited in relative silence, no one really wanting to speak. 

Just after five the door opened and Len powered up his cold gun, pointing it at the door. “Hello, Hannah, or do you prefer Hannibal?” 

The girl stopped short in the doorway. “Leonard? What? What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” she demanded. 

“Oh, you know, dearest dad never did know how to do anything right and that includes hiring people. Ya see, if you want to stalk a Snart you have to be really good.” Len rose gracefully from the chair and stood behind Lisa, Mick just stood while Lisa remained seated, letting Len talk but being center stage. 

“I could do it. Lisa, and Mick, could do it. You, you can’t do it,” Len scoffed. “In fact, your pathetic attempt was just that, pathetic. Truly. I’m very well connected and it took less than twenty-four hours to find you. So, I’m giving you a chance to tell the truth. Are you working for or with Lewis Snart?” 

“So what if I am? Gonna kill me?” Hannah challenged. She crossed her arms and stared defiantly back at him.

“Of course not.” Len grinned. “In fact, I want you to keep working with him.” 

Hannah’s face fell to open shock. So, Len continued. “Actually, we’ll help you, on a condition. You report to me. You fill me in on anything relevant and anything I ask. Then we help you fool Lewis into thinking whatever he wants to believe.”

“Why, why would I do that?” She sounded less certain than before. 

“Because, my dear, if you continue to threaten and harass us, you’ll hope I get to you first,” Len commented absently. 

Lisa’s gun powered up and Mick cracked his knuckles. 

“But it’s your choice,” Len said with a shrug. “I want your response within the next twenty-four hours. Or our next visit will be less cordial.” He put as much ice into the statement as he could. 

Lisa stood up graceful as ever and walked right up to her. Hannah didn’t even see the left hook coming and before she could recover Lisa punched hard into her stomach. She fell to the floor and Lisa gracefully stepped over her. 

Without a backwards glance Lisa said, “I love pictures as much as the next girl, but try that again and photos won’t be the only shots taken.” 

Len grinned and he knew Mick was suppressing an eye roll. They followed Lisa and Len heard another grunt of pain as he had no doubt Mick kicked her leg at the very least. 

Lisa didn’t stop walking until they were back at the apartment. They didn’t speak until she slammed the door. 

“What the hell, Lenny?” she demanded. 

“What? You know having insider knowledge on Lewis and Roscoe is what we need to truly take them down,” Len countered. 

“But them Lenny? Really?” Lisa continued. 

“I’m with the Doll on this one, Boss. You can’t trust a man that can change his face that easily,” Mick said with a shake of his head. Most people thought he was dumb, Len and Lisa knew better.

“I know. We’re not going to trust them. But we do need to get Lewis off our tail. And if he just got out of jail he either broke out or is on parole, we just need a little bit of hard evidence to get him thrown back in the slammer and then we’re home free. This is a temporary fix,” Len explained. 

“I don’t like this,” Lisa muttered. 

“Noted. I’m the one that will have contact with them. You’re staying as far out of this as possible.” Len wanted nothing more than to sink into the couch and watch some mindless show but Lisa didn’t seem ready to let this go. 

“Wait a minute, how is that fair?” she demanded. “I’m the one they’re going after.” 

“Because they know they can rile me up using you. We don’t give them that kind of ammo and they don’t get the chance to get the drop on us again. We know they’re in town. And we can guess they’re doing something to make the Metas go missing. Other than that, we don’t know anything. I need more information before I even close to comfortable bringing you into this,” Len reasoned. 

“I don’t like this,” she all but growled. “The instant you know something you let me know. The instant!” 

“Scouts honor.” 

She nodded. “Fine. I’m going to meet with Laurel and Tommy for some homework. That thing you never seem to do,” she half accused. 

“I do plenty of work,” Len mumbled. Mick burst out laughing and Lisa stifled her giggles. It was a long-time thing that even though Len never seemed to do work they all knew that was because he would do it right as it was assigned, usually in class. He’d been falling a bit behind but with a lot of the day still left he was going to use this time to catch up. 

“Whatever. Walk me there, Mickey? We can discuss this mystery person you’re ditching us for,” Lisa teased and picked up her backpack. 

“It’s not important,” he muttered blushing red. 

“Oh, I’m so gonna need a name. Bye Lenny!” Lisa called pulling him out the door.

But Mick kept his mouth shut. He let slip it was a her but that was it. He didn’t need Lisa poking around. And he certainly didn’t need Leonard, Lisa was getting close to Ramon, and Hartley, and Len had to be up in knots about that. He wasn’t gonna be that one to get that ire. 

He dropped Lisa off at the library with Laurel and her boyfriend Tommy. Mick could never keep up with which or Queen’s friends he was dating or who they were dating but he liked Tommy well enough from the few interactions he’d had. 

He lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall, eyes shut. He was running low on lighter fluid or he’d watch the flame to lose track of time. He could only smoke when the Snarts weren’t around.

It started when Lisa was little, he didn’t want her picking up the habit and then Len said the smoke distracted him.

“Those things’ll kill ya, ya know?” an icy voice chided. 

“Frosty, what’re you doin’ here?” he grunted without opening his eyes, even if he really wanted to. 

“You ran out on me yesterday.” He just grunted. “Caity must’ve gotten spooked because the goodies on Team Flash were arguing. I showed up and put an end to the argument by saying it was stupid and walked out.” 

“What were they arguin’ about?” Not that Mick actually cared. He just found it amusing they decided to put on a ‘better than you’ attitude and it was nice to hear them being human. 

“Oh I don’t know. Iris being an idiot and doing something Barry said was a bad idea. Then Harry walked in and him and Cisco were arguing with Hartley making comments and it was very stressful for poor Cait. It makes me so much harder to control,” she mused. 

Mick just made a non-committal sound until Killer Frost plucked the cigarette from his lips. 

“Hey!” he snapped.

She took a puff then crushed it in her hand. “I told you those things will kill you. Besides, you owe me at least one more night. I’ll make food,” she said in a sing songy voice. “You can’t spend the night though. Caity plays soothing music on the weeknights on the off chance I’m the one going to bed. And although I could turn it off I hate class so that’s all her.” 

“Fine by me.” 

Killer Frost grinned and grabbed his arm, tugging him to her dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Please comment and kudos. I'm doing ColdFlash Bingo so check out some of my other stories that I have or come say hi on tumblr at gbkoda. I'd love to chat and share the ColdFlash love. 
> 
> Also, I need to know, I could easily make this ColdWestAllen. I want to know people's thoughts on that. I love Eddie so I'm not going to be leaning that way but I feel I could make it happen naturally so I'm curious about other people's suggestions. But ColdFlash is still end game, I swear.
> 
> Sorry once again for the long wait!!! But next time we get Len and Barry’s dinner “Not-A-Date!”


	8. Not a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Barry go out to dinner. Things go well until they don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say, I've had this chapter planned out since the beginning of the story. I like how it turned out. Also, this will be strictly ColdFlash, no ColdWestAllen. It's a little shorter than the others but this is a very necessary chapter. Enjoy.

Wednesday came a lot sooner than Leonard would’ve liked. Hannibal agreed to be their mole, and they met to exchange information. His father was definitely working with the military and he had a lot of go over with Barry. Mick and Lisa hadn’t been happy about it but after Len assured them he would double check the information with Gideon they seemed placated.

He was fixing his shirt collar when Lisa poked her head in. “Ooh, looking all snazzy for your date?”

“It’s not a date,” Len grumbled yet again.

Lisa had gotten it in her head that because it was a nice restaurant that it was a date. She would just grin every time he said it wasn’t a date. Like she was doing now; grinning as she strolled in and flopped on the bed.

“It’s a strategy meeting at a nice restaurant. Not Timeless nice but still, I don’t want to look like a slob,” he said finally getting the collar to lay flat. Next time he would have Mick iron it.

Lisa was quiet for a moment. “I think I wanna date.”

Len raised an eyebrow in the mirror at her but didn’t reply.

“I think I wanna date Cisco, actually. And Hartley if I think about it,” she went on like he knew she would.

“Isn’t Hartley gay?” Len said tucking in his shirt.

“Fine we can each date Cisco, and make it like a double date with the three of us,” she huffed.

“Is Ramon even bi?”

“If he’s not he is missing out,” she laughed. “He and Hartley have so much tension sometimes I just want to scream ‘Just fuck and get over it,’ but I think Cisco would do this cute little sputter thing he does when he’s embarrassed and although it is cute it probably wouldn’t be productive.” She groaned loudly.

“So, this is why you took the job at the Labs?” Len picked out a nice brown belt

“No, well, not entirely. I mean, I took it because Wells was there, and we needed a cover story as to why I was there. But also, it helps pay for my school, and it also pays really well. And any overtime pay goes directly to me. And according to both Hartley and Cisco, there will be plenty of overtime. I hate that you have to slave away at the diner, this way I can help out with rent and groceries.”

Len turned to her, now fully dressed in khakis, a navy-blue button up with a brown belt. Nothing too fancy, but he looked good. “Thanks, sis, ya know I would never ask you to do something like that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m telling you I’m going to help out. I’m basically just testing things to make sure the common person can use them, or in an upcoming project can’t use them.” She stood up and looked him up and down. “Damn, Lenny thought you said this wasn’t a date.”

He just rolled his eyes and pulled her into a hug. “I’m gonna be home late, are you and Laurel studying?”

“Nah, took the night off. I’ll just be chilling here. Or I might see if Cisco and Hartley are free. I’ll text you what’s up.” She pulled back, grinning like a fool. “Where’s Mick been running off to lately?”

Len thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s his love life you need to investigate, not mine.”

“Oh, trust me, I am.”

Len just rolled his eyes and headed to the door. “I’ll let you know when I get there, okay?”

She followed him to the door. “Sounds like a plan, man. Later, ya jerk.”

“See ya, train wreck.”

As Len got off the bike after a short drive he looked up at the sign. E-2 was apparently pretty new and Barry knew the owners. That really didn’t surprise Len, Barry new a lot of people.

He waited by the entrance for three minutes before a trail of lightning stopped beside him. “Hey, sorry I’m late,” were the first words out of Barry’s mouth.

Len was startled not only by his sudden appearance but also just his appearance. Barry was wearing a red button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and fitted black dress pants. “I wasn’t waiting long,” he managed.

“Good, let’s head in. I’ve heard the food is great,” Barry said with a blinding smile.

“You haven’t been here before?” Len asked. Since Barry knew the owner he was under the impression Barry had eaten here before.

“No, but Cisco and Caitlin have. And even though H.R. annoys him Cisco has to admit he can cook. And these are all his recipes so it’s gotta be good.” Barry held the door open for him.

Len had to admit, it had a nice atmosphere. There was music that sounded modern quietly enough that you could ignore it if you wanted or listen. The tables were spaced nicely with table cloths that immediately made the room look fancy and large window with a glass ceiling let in a lot of natural light during the day. On a clear night like tonight, Len could see the moon.

“Snart?” Len snapped his gaze to the host.

“Hunter,” he said coolly.

“Sorry, you never gave me your first name. How’ve you been?” he asked with a smile that bordered on genuine but was still customer service.

“Good, you? Haven’t gotten kidnapped again?” Len said mostly to clue Barry in on who this was.

Hunter just let out a good-natured laugh. “No, no I haven’t so I’ll count that as a win any day. Who’s this?” He glanced at Barry.

“Barry and we have a reservation under the name Allen,” Barry said stepping up next to Len.

“Barry Allen? As in the Flash?” Hunter said a bit wide-eyed.

“The one and only.” Len might have imagined it but it looked like Barry stood up a little straighter.

“Could we just get seated please, you two can discuss heroics later,” Len said with a roll of his eyes.

“Sorry, it’s not often I’ve got two heroes in front of me,” Hunter said gathering the menus. Then to Barry, “Did he tell you how he saved me? Because I’ve never been one to need saving but I’d let him save me any day.”

Len arched an eyebrow and Barry took just a half step closer. “Yeah, I’m sure. Is this our table?” Barry asked a little too tersely.

“Right, right, yes, here you go. Also, H.R. wanted you to know that the coffee and the coffee cake is on the house, but he’s at his book reading tonight so he won’t be able to stop by,” Hunter said setting down the menus. “Your waitress will be right with you. It was nice to meet you Barry, and good to see you again, Snart. Could I have your first name? I feel weird calling you by your last.”

Len held back a sigh. “If I wanted you to have my first name, I would have given it to you. Have a nice night, Hunter.” Len sat on the side where he could see the door, clearly dismissing him.

He looked crestfallen as he walked away but Barry was fighting a grin. Len gave him a hard look. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing, I just find it a little amusing that you won’t give him your name, is all,” Barry muttered. He picked up a menu and tried to hide his stupid, blushing grin behind it.

“I unlike you Scarlet, don’t give my name to every Joe Shmo on the street. I like to keep some secrets,” Len mused. He also picked up the menu.

It was a nice menu with an emphasis on coffee themed things, but Len didn’t mind he could get a burger and fries. Everything else seemed like a little too different or modified for him. The waitress came around and Len had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t Laurel. She said her name was Di and she got their drinks.

“Thank you for still coming out here with me tonight,” Barry said as she walked away.

“You said you wanted to thank me for saving Iris’s life. A life for a life. This is just the rest of my tab with you,” Len said looking anywhere but Barry. “I also wanted to talk strategy with you.”

“I know, I know that’s what you said. I still appreciate it. And yeah, a strategy is good. I’ve got some things I need to go over with you too.” Barry took a breath. “So, I told them about the cold gun and the other speedster. After they heard everything Cisco demanded to be in on the plan, saying he could make for the quickest getaway. Caitlin hesitantly offered Killer Frost’s help but that’s always up in the air.”

“No.”

“Wait, what do you mean no?” Barry seemed taken aback by that.

“That’s too many people, too many variables. Working with Thawne is going to put enough kinks into the plan without your little group of do-gooders. I can’t plan for both. Or, well I can, but there is a higher likelihood of things going off the rails the more people you bring on. So no, they can wait on the sidelines. Or I can rework the whole plan, and I don’t think you’ll like it,” Len said, finally looking at him.

“Wait, you already have another plan?”

“I’ve been working on backups since Sunday. The other plan would be Caitlin Snow is the Meta I sell to Eiling. That way her cold is easier to access than mine. But again, I’d have to rework the plan and that would put you up against the speedster instead of Thawne. Since his obsession is with you I doubt he would play bait for any of the others.” Len smiled as Di sat down the drinks.

“But what if they waited then came in?” Barry offered.

“If they were in the meeting place there would be a higher chance the speedster saw and caught them. If they used Ramon’s portals to come in there is no way to know which is faster, Zoom or Cisco’s abilities. And that is not something you want to test on the actual mission.”

Barry let his shoulders slump. He looked defeated and Len couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t giving the kid a lot of options here.

“But we won’t be going in as blind as we were, I’ve confirmed my father is working with the General.”

“Wait, how?” Barry asked perking up.

“We visited Hannibal Sunday night.” Len held up a hand before Barry could interrupt. “He is still in one piece and very much alive. Just like you asked. But he has confirmed that Lewis told him to spy on us. He wasn’t the one that decided what Metas to take and while I assume it was Roscoe, I haven’t been able to figure it out. Hannibal claims he doesn’t know but he’s lying out his ass every time he says that.”

“I still don’t see how this helps us with the General,” Barry said with the confusion clear on his face.

“It’s not as much help as I would’ve liked, I’ll admit. But Lewis loves power. He’ll want to be part of the capture of the Flash. And I can get it confirmed before we do this if he was successful. It’ll give me a better understanding of who we’re up against. I’m actually surprised He hasn’t been trying to throw around his weight with the army behind him as is,” Len admitted.

“Well, how do you know he’s not?”

“Trust me, I’m not well connected to the same circles of my father, but this is something that would get back to me. Which means the General is keeping him at an arm’s length, which is bound to piss him off. And when he’s pissed off, he doesn’t think. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave the General an ultimatum of “let me in closer to this or I’m not going to get you more Metas” because he is absolutely dumb enough to threaten the army.” Len shook his head. “Did they come up with anything that would actually be useful to us without them there?”

“Not really,” Barry glanced away. “I told them about the cold gun and Cisco immediately said that he wanted to see it and keep it in the cortex because if there is a weapon specifically designed to hurt me he doesn’t think it should be where others can get to it. Which caused Hartley to immediately disagree and they started loudly arguing then there was something about two other guns and I don’t know, there was a lot of yelling and Harry, er, Dr. Wells walked in and things got thrown. And then Iris was arguing with me how _she_ should go on the mission with them, be the one to turn me over with you, saying it would be more believable that she tricked me into coming down than if we just walked in. Then Frost came out, blasted the wall, told us we were all being idiots and stormed out,” Barry said in a rush.

Len blinked at him. “That was a lot.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Barry scratched the back of his neck. “It was stressful after you guys left. But I think they’ve calmed down. Iris isn’t happy about not being able to help but she accepted it, for now at least. And Hartley stormed off but I haven’t heard either’s been murdered so I’m sure they’ll be fine. And Cait showed up fine on Monday. Although,” Barry laughed. “She thinks Frost has a thing on the side because she’s woken up sore a few times the last few weeks.”

“Is that, is that allowed? Since they share a body?” Len asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No idea, if it happens, she’s going to leave a note for Frost to ask her what’s up. She doesn’t want Ronnie to get upset if her alter ego has a booty call,” Barry explained with a shake of his head.

“Ronnie? He a part of the team we haven’t met yet?” Len leaned forward, intrigued.

“Oh, no, he’s half of Firestorm Alpha.” Barry stopped talking as Di came over with their food.

After assuring her there was nothing else they needed Len asked, “I thought Jax was half of Firestorm?”

“It’s complicated,” Barry began slowly. “He is, but he’s not supposed to be. Ronnie and Professor Stein were the original Firestorm, hence why they are Firestorm Alpha. But when Jax got here and got around Professor Stein is triggered his Meta gene and he bonded with Professor Stein. Ronnie and the Professor have to bond more often, but Jax still has to stay close, we’re trying to find him someone else to bond with so he and Ronnie don’t have to share Stein.”

“Wow, that is complicated,” Len mused.

Barry barked out a laugh. “Yeah, yeah it is. Professor Stein thinks his daughter may be a match based on DNA analysis but she’s studying in England until the beginning of the year. And with Jax being able to bond with Stein it’s not too pressing.”

Barry took a bite of his double burger. “Oh my, Cisco was right. H.R. knows how to make a burger.”

“How do you know this H.R. fellow?” Len asked taking a bit of his own single burger. And Barry was right, it was very good.

“What does that have to do with strategy?” Barry asked with a teasing smile.

“Just humor me,” Len said with a roll of his eyes.

“Uh, well, we may have saved his life? And then found out he was Dr. Wells’s twin brother.”

Len choked on the burger. Like actually inhaling the burger and having to cough to dislodge it.

“Oh my god! Are you okay? Drink some water!” Barry thrust the glass to him.

Len did drink then waved Barry off. “I’m fine,” he coughed again. “I’m fine. But you mean to tell me there are two Wellses running around?” Len managed to choke out.

“Technically there are three but Sherloque is in France so…” Barry trailed off as Len just stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

“Harrison Wells is a triplet? Are they all like him?” He gestured vaguely to his head.

Barry blinked before he burst out laughing. “I mean no? H.R. is definitely not but Sherloque kinda is. Like he’s smart but he’s also just really observant? He’s a human behavior analyst, or something like that, works for the government in foreign countries.”

Now it was Len’s turn to blink at him. “So, you mean to tell me, we’re getting help from Wells?”

“Yes.”

“And he has two brothers?”

“Yep.”

“One of which works for the government?”

“Yes…”

“The government that controls the army we’re looking into?”

“Crap.”

But Barry shook his head. “There’s no way Wells, any of them are working with the government to hurt Metas. They’re the leading Meta supporters!”

“You, you do realize that is not helping their case, right? They are the ones most equipped to deal with Metas and could benefit the most from learning about them first.” Len held up a hand to silence Barry yet again. “I’m not saying that definitely are. I’m just saying it’s a possibility that we shouldn’t overlook, especially since he was so quick to offer his secret lab to help us.”

“Okay, fine, but don’t go saying anything to the others. Cisco and Caitlin have both worked on projects with him and Iris will want to investigate. We’ll look into this privately,” Barry said. His eyes looked almost pleading and Len rolled his eye.

“Fine, I won’t say anything unless we find actual proof,” Len promised.

“Thank you.”

After that, they finished the meal in relative ease. They made idle small talk about Barry’s classes and how they were going. Len discovered Barry was a disaster actually going to class but had high grades in them.

Len also discovered Barry was single, despite some people asking. Len knew a girl in the class he had with Thawne, Patty Spivot had asked Barry out. She had been turned down and had been letting him know. Not that he had asked they just sat next to each other and she could vent since they sat in the back. Not that Len mentioned any of this.

It was obvious Barry was caught up on Iris by the way he spoke. And also, by the way, he figured Barry kept interrupting her dates with Eddie because Eddie would complain to Len about that fairly often. Len didn’t know when he became everyone’s therapist but somehow it had happened.

When Len brought up Eddie was a good guy Barry slumped and had the decency to look sheepish. He was learning that and as much as he wanted to hate Eddie, or at least dislike him, Barry couldn’t find it in him too. So he resolved then and there to stop getting involved and let them work themselves out.

Len rolled his eyes but indulged Barry.

All in all, it was a nice evening. Barry paid even though Len told him not to and Len handled the tip. As they were walking out Len was going to say bye to Hunter, but he wasn’t at the Host Stand.

Barry just shrugged, “He might be on break.”

They walked to Len’s bike. “You didn’t have to walk me all the way out here, Barry.”

“I know. But I wanted to. You seem to be a danger magnetic. Can’t have my newest partner getting into trouble right after we made a plan,” Barry said with a dopey grin.

Len opened his seat to grab his helmet and cold gun. “I’m prepared now.” But he was also grinning.

The air crackled with electricity. Zoom stopped not ten feet from them.

“Shit.”

Then the world was blurring around him. The only thing he focused on was keeping ahold of the cold gun. With that, they may stand a chance. That was assuming Zoom didn’t kill him as soon or before they got to their destination.

The world stopped blurring and Len waited for his stomach to catch up with the rest of him. He slowly realized he was at a table sitting across from, none other than General Eiling.

Barry zipped in after them only to be caught by Zoom before he could do anything. Zoom held him across the chest and around his throat, effectively pinning him to the bigger speedster’s chest.

“Good to see you again Mr. Scofield,” Eiling greeted as if there weren’t two struggling speedsters ten feet from them.

“Please, call me Michael, so what do I owe this… pleasure?” Len purred. He glanced around the room as best he could.

“I heard you were out and about, figured it was time we met up again, Leonard.” The smile didn’t drop from his face as Len tensed.

Then he sat back, doing his best to feign unconcerned. “You did your research, so did I. So, I’ll ask again. Why am I here?”

“Your father begrudgingly says you could be an asset. And since his attempts to, shall we say, persuade you were unsuccessful I’ve decided to contact you directly.” Eiling explained.

“Didn’t know daddy dearest talked about me or that meeting you in an alley was a job interview,” Len all but scoffed.

Eiling laughed. “He really did not want to mention you but he did mention you went to CCU. And since that is really where we’re looking for our Metas you seemed like a perfect fit. You’ve even when you’ve brought me the best Meta I could ask for?” He glanced over at the struggling Barry Allen.

Who, after noticing that he was being watched, stopped struggling. “What do you want Eiling?” Barry demanded.

“I see you’ve mentioned me.” Len just shrugged. “Well, no matter, Mr. Allen, aka the Flash. It’s good to finally meet you.” He stood up and made his way to Barry.

Barry struggled again, but this time Zoom dug his claws into Barry’s neck, cutting off his air and close to making him bleed. “I can’t say the same,” he choked out.

Len drew in a sharp breath. He stood as well but didn’t walk over to them, yet.

“Science is all about pushing the limits Mr. Allen. And I’m simply a limit pusher. Metas made us realize that Humans were good, but we could be better. And everyone wants to be better. Better people can get more things done. Imagine if our military was better. If we were able to genetically modify our soldiers to be the best. Take the best parts of the Meta and then put them into soldiers,” Eiling explained calmly.

“That’s, that’s insane,” Barry whispered. Zoom’s claws tightened again, this time drawing blood. Barry bit back a grunt of pain.

“It’s not insane Mr. Allen, it is the future. One I would love for you to be a part of. I’ve heard about your abilities, and from what Zoom can do, having you on our side could give us the breakthrough we need,” he continued.

Len started scooting to be able to get a clear shot of Zoom.

“If you’ve got him, why do you need me?” Barry spat.

“Because as good as Zoom is, he is artificial. He could never have the pure connection to the Speed Force, yes I know about the Speed Force, that you do.” Zoom growled at the statement.

Barry’s face showed nothing but open shock and, even if Len didn’t know what the Speed Force was, he was sure Eiling knowing about it was a bad thing.

“So, what do you say, Mr. Allen, want to help serve your country?”

“Where are the other Metas you already took?” Barry demanded, ignoring the question altogether.

“Serving.” Was the only answer he got.

“Where do I come in on this again?” Len drawled, finally drawing their attention again. Barry looked a little panicked at that.

“Of course, you would be my eyes on the ground. From what I’ve heard you are very connected. I’m sure infiltrating the Families wouldn’t be difficult for you,” Eiling said taking a step back from Barry.

“It would not be, but you really just want me as a spy?” Len didn’t believe that for a second.

“There is quite a bit of corruption and quite a bit of corrupted money coming into Central. With the right results I don’t see why the Families couldn’t be reporting to you,” Eiling mused.

“They reported to me as I reported to you?” Len guessed. And there it was. The military would get to control everything coming in and going out of Central, from weapons to drugs to money. And Len had no doubt they would want a cut of it and he knew the Families were bad but somehow he figured giving that control to Eiling would be worse.

“Of course, everything would run through me. Think about it, you could be one of the most powerful men in Central,” Eiling said.

Len really did not like that hungry look in his eye. “Sorry, I’ll pass.” And before Eiling could comment he pulled up the gun and shot it at the speedsters.

He was aiming for Zooms arms but he knew Barry would be hit too. Luckily Zoom isn’t

expecting it and dropped Barry when he got hit. He rushes Len but with the gun still, up he shoots him in the chest. The dark speedster lets out an inhuman cry and dashes away.

“You’ve made a powerful enemy today, Leonard. I could’ve made you great. Now, you’re as good as a traitor to your country,” Eiling growled.

“Doubt it,” Len said raising the gun to fire. There was a flash of blue lightning and the General was gone.

“Barry,” he whispered and rushed to the fallen speedster.

The wounds on his neck were superficial but it was his chest and stomach that worried him. The red shirt was redder with blood. It looked like it his struggles Zoom had slashed his side coming to his stomach. They were deeper than the wounds on his neck and they were bleeding sluggishly. Hopefully, his healing had kicked in before the hit from the cold gun.

Where is had hit the shirt had basically crumbled under his fingers. Len gently felt the area, it was hard and black. “I’m sorry, Barry,” he whispered.

Barry shifted. “D-don’t be s-s-sorry yet. I-I’m still, I’m still here,” Barry managed through chattering teeth.

“Well, I won’t be if you pull through. I’m going to have to get you up. This’ll probably hurt,” Len said, his tone somewhat sympathetic.

“It’s not, it’s not the w-worst I’ve f-felt,” Barry said.

Len grimaced and worked to get him on his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He pulled out his phone to call Lisa. Only to see a few texts from her telling him she was going to go hang out with Cisco and Hartley. Then one about a little after nine saying they were going to catch a movie. There was no way the movie would be out yet.

“Fuck,” he muttered and dial Mick.

“What’s up Boss?” Mick chuckled on the third ring.

“I need you to pick me up,” Len said without preamble.

“Can’t been drinkin’ tonight.” There was shuffling on the line then a bit farther away, “I’ll be right in there I’m grabbing the rest!” Then back into the phone. “Got to go.”

“Mick wait!” he shouted as the line went dead. “I’m gonna kill him.”

“I-I could get, I could get us home,” Barry mumbled from his shoulder.

“I don’t really think that’s a good idea,” Len muttered, but he was quickly running out of options.

“Let me down.” Barry hissed as he slid off Len’s shoulders. “Hold on tight. I-I won’t d-drop you. But I need to focus on, focus on running.” Barry said with effort.

Len didn’t like it but he didn’t argue anymore. If Barry was dead set on this wasting time wouldn’t help. Len wrapped his arms tightly around Barry’s neck and Barry pulled him close. Len couldn’t help but notice Barry smelled like a storm, like ozone and power.

He shoved that thought from his mind. He should not be describing Barry’s scent as ‘power,’ Len didn’t even know what that smelled like. He pushed the thought away that said power smelled like Barry.

He only had a few seconds to think before Barry was off. The world blurred around them and Len focused on not losing his grip instead of how this close the lightning coming off Barry felt warm and tingly.

Len was going to end himself if he kept thinking like that he decided. He was there to complete school and try to stop Metas from dying, apparently. He was not there to date the Flash.

Without warning, they crashed into his trash cans and went flying. Barry rolled them so he took the brunt of the impact when they finally landed. The cry of pain that ripped from Barry was not something Len wanted to hear again and he scrambled off.

“Scarlet, you with me?” Len muttered. He didn’t want to hurt him further but they needed to get up to the apartment.

“Everything hurts,” Barry all but whimpered.

“I know. I know. Let’s get you up to my room then we can call Caitlin or Shawna-”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I’ll get checked out tomorrow, please I’m so tired,” Barry begged.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Len didn’t give him a warning as he picked him up yet again. Barry held back any noise of pain as if that would convince Len he was fine. As quickly as he could, Len got Barry up to his room.

He took off the rest of the ruined shirt and the smoking shoes, how had he missed that outside? He debated removing his pants before determining that yes, the blood had stained and ruined them and they needed to be taken off.

“This isn’t how I imagined the first time you’d see me naked,” Barry muttered through a yawn.

“Imagined that have you?” Len asked. He was going for teasing but it sounded more curious than he’d meant it to. He got up to get the supplies to dress the cuts that were now bleeding again. He didn’t care, he needed new sheets anyways.

“After you saved Iris.” Barry touched his cuts and hissed in pain. “Figured you couldn’t be all bad.”

“Pretty sure I wasn’t the dick that gave myself a concussion.” Len got out the Neosporin and a giant bandage to cover Barry’s side.

“Sorry about that. I was a dick.” Barry said looking away.

“I know. We got angry. As long as it doesn’t happen again, we’ll be fine. If anything like that happens again though, we will have a problem.” He finished putting on the bandage.

Barry hissed a bit but nodded. “Trust me, it won’t.” Len got off the bed again. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get some more blankets. You need to be warmed up. I, I don’t know how your stomach will heal,” Len admitted.

Barry just nodded and Len returned quickly with the spare blankets. He laid them over Barry then dressed down to a t-shirt and boxers and crawled in beside Barry. Barry snuggled against him. Len just rolled his eyes and grabbed his laptop.

“Anything you want to watch?” he asked pulling up Netflix.

“Nah, I’m gonna sleep,” Barry murmured.

“Alright, g’night Scarlet.”

“Night Len.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the beginning of this originally Thawne was going to attack. But I've changed Thawne's role and I thought this worked better. Also, let me know what you think about the Wells triplets, I was a little iffy on them, I will say the other two will not be in this a lot or even at all. Let me know what you think, please! Comment and kudos! I love hearing from you guys!

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be so long. I've got the first few chapters done so I'm going to try for once every other week, just so I don't catch up to myself too fast. This is unbeta'd so please point out mistakes. Also what you want to see! I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions and theories! Thanks for reading!


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